Martin Evans

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Sir Martin Evans

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRS|FMedSci}}

| birth_name = Martin John Evans

| image = Martin_Evans_Nobel_Prize.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Evans in October 2007

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|1|01|df=y}}

| birth_place = Stroud, Gloucestershire, England

| citizenship =

| ethnicity =

| field = Developmental biology

| thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.659008

| thesis_title = Studies on the ribonucleic acid of early amphibian embryos

| thesis_year =

| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|

| education = {{Plainlist|

University of Cambridge (BA)
University College London (PhD)}}

| doctoral_advisor =

| doctoral_students = Allan Bradley{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Isolation characterization and developmental potential of murine embryo-derived stem cells.|first= Allan|last=Bradley|date=1985|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.373263}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/people/biographies/abradley.html |title=Allan Bradley - Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute |publisher=Sanger.ac.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113144014/http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/faculty/abradley/|archive-date=2013-11-13}}
Elizabeth Robertson

| known_for = Discovering embryonic stem cells, and development of the knockout mouse and gene targeting.

| prizes = {{Plainlist|

William Bate Hardy Prize (1993)
Lasker Award (2001)
Knight Bachelor (2004)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2007)}}

| footnotes =

| spouse = {{marriage|Judith Clare Williams MBE|1966}}

| children = Two sons and one daughter

| website = {{URL|cardiff.ac.uk/martinevans}}

| module = {{Listen| embed=yes |filename = Prof Martin Evans BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 17 Feb 2008 b008yn16.flac |title = Martin Evans's voice |type = speech |description = from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 17 February 2008{{Cite episode |title= Martin Evans |series= Desert Island Discs |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008yn16 |access-date= 2014-01-18 |station= BBC Radio 4 |date= 17 February 2008 }} }}

}}

Sir Martin John Evans {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRS|FMedSci}} FLSW (born 1 January 1941) is an English biologist{{Cite web|title=Christ College Cambridge Alumni|url=https://alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk/martin-evans}} who, with Matthew Kaufman, was the first to culture mice embryonic stem cells and cultivate them in a laboratory in 1981. He is also known, along with Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, for his work in the development of the knockout mouse and the related technology of gene targeting, a method of using embryonic stem cells to create specific gene modifications in mice.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3357677.stm Stem cell architect is knighted] BBC News : Wednesday, 31 December 2003{{cite journal

| last = Evans| first = Martin J.|date= October 2001

| title = The cultural mouse

| journal = Nature Medicine| volume = 7| issue = 10| pages = 1081–1083

| doi = 10.1038/nm1001-1081

| pmid = 11590418| s2cid = 26951331}} (subscription required) In 2007, the three shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their discovery and contribution to the efforts to develop new treatments for illnesses in humans.{{cite web

|url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/index.html

|title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007

|access-date = 8 October 2007

|publisher = Nobelprize.org

}}{{cite episode |title=Desert Island Discs with Martin Evans |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20080217.shtml

|series=Desert Island Discs | series-link=Desert Island Discs |network=BBC |station=Radio 4 |airdate=2008-02-17}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/martinevans|title=Professor Sir Martin Evans Nobel Prize for Medicine|publisher=Cardiff University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126034407/http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/martinevans/|archive-date=2013-01-26}}{{cite news |url =https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/a-celebration-of-science-in-the-uk-10-britons-who-shaped-our-world-406704.html |title = A celebration of science in the UK: 10 Britons who shaped our world | date = 2006-07-05 |newspaper = The Independent}}

He won a major scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge at a time when advances in genetics were occurring there and became interested in biology and biochemistry.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} He then went to University College London where he learned laboratory skills supervised by Elizabeth Deuchar. In 1978, he moved to the Department of Genetics, at the University of Cambridge, and in 1980 began his collaboration with Matthew Kaufman. They explored the method of using blastocysts for the isolation of embryonic stem cells. After Kaufman left, Evans continued his work, upgrading his laboratory skills to the newest technologies, isolated the embryonic stem cell of the early mouse embryo and established it in a cell culture. He genetically modified and implanted it into adult female mice with the intent of creating genetically modified offspring, work for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2007. In 2015, he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.{{Cite web |last=Wales |first=The Learned Society of |title=Martin Evans |url=https://www.learnedsociety.wales/fellow/martin-evans/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=The Learned Society of Wales |language=en-US}} Today, genetically modified mice are considered vital for medical research.

Early life and education

Evans was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 1 January 1941.{{Who's Who | title=EVANS, Sir Martin (John) | id = U15219 | volume = 2015 | edition = online Oxford University Press}} His mother was a teacher. His father maintained a mechanical workshop and taught Evans to use tools and machines including a lathe. Evans was close to his grandfather who was a choir master at a Baptist Church for over 40 years, and whose main interests were music, poetry, and the Baptist Church. His mother's brother was a professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge. As a boy Evans was quiet, shy and inquisitive. He liked science, and his parents encouraged his education. He remembers loving old science books and receiving an electric experimental set which he wanted for Christmas. He attributes to a chemistry set, from which he learned basic chemistry, for the development of one of his "greatest amateur passions". He went to middle school at St Dunstan's College, an independent school for boys in South East London, where he started chemistry and physics classes, and studied biology.{{Nobelprize|accessdate=2020-10-11}} including the Nobel Lecture Embryonic Stem Cells: The Mouse Source Vehicle for Mammalian Genetics and Beyond He worked hard studying for the University of Cambridge entrance exams. At school he was one of the best pupils, although not at the top of the class.

Evans won a major scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge, at a time when there were many advances in genetics being made. He studied zoology, botany and chemistry, but soon dropped zoology and added biochemistry, finding himself drawn to plant physiology and function. He went to seminars by Sydney Brenner and attended lectures by Jacques Monod. He graduated from Christ's College with a BA in 1963; although, he did not take his final examinations, because he was ill with glandular fever. He decided on a career examining genetic control of vertebrate development.{{cite web|url=http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/research/mammalian/staff/evans.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210011207/http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/research/mammalian/staff/evans.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 February 2001 |title=Martin Evans FRS, DSc |last=Evans |first=Martin |publisher=Cardiff School of Biosciences |access-date=27 June 2010 }} He moved to University College London where he had a fortunate position as a research assistant, learning laboratory skills under Dr Elizabeth Deuchar. His goal at the time was "to isolate developmentally controlled m-RNA". He was awarded a PhD in 1969.{{cite thesis|first=Martin John|last=Evans|year=1969|title=Studies on the ribonucleic acid of early amphibian embryos|degree=PhD|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.659008|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.659008}}|publisher=University College London}}{{cite web

|url = http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0710/07100801

|title = 20th Nobel Prize for UCL community

|date = 2007-10-08

|access-date = 9 October 2007

|publisher = University College London

}}

Career and research

He became a lecturer in the Anatomy and Embryology department at University College London, where he did research and taught PhD students and undergraduates. In 1978, he moved to the Department of Genetics, at the University of Cambridge, where his work in association with Matthew Kaufman began in 1980. They developed the idea of using blastocysts for the isolation of embryonic stem cells.{{cite journal |vauthors=Evans M, Kaufman M | title = Establishment in culture of pluripotent cells from mouse embryos | journal = Nature | volume = 292 | issue = 5819 | pages = 154–6 | year = 1981 | pmid = 7242681 | doi = 10.1038/292154a0| bibcode = 1981Natur.292..154E | s2cid = 4256553 }}

After Kaufman left to take up a professorship in Anatomy in Edinburgh, Evans continued his work, branching out eclectically, "drawn into a number of fascinating fields of biology and medicine." In October 1985, he visited the Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for one month of practical work to learn the most recent laboratory techniques.{{cite web |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/evans-telephone.html |title = Sir Martin J. Evans: Interview |publisher = The Nobel Foundation}}

In the 1990s, he was a fellow at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. In 1999, he became Professor of Mammalian Genetics and Director of the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University,{{cite web

|url=http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/contactsandpeople/stafflist/e-h/evans-martin-prof-sir-overview_new.html

|title=Staff list: Sir Martin Evans FRS, DSc

|access-date=1 October 2007

|publisher=School of Biosciences, Cardiff University

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802085007/http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/contactsandpeople/stafflist/e-h/evans-martin-prof-sir-overview_new.html

|archive-date= 2 August 2009

}} where he worked until he retired at the end of 2007.{{cite news |url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90781/6317215.html |title =Experiences of the Nobel Prize Laureates in Physiology or Medicine |date = 2007-12-07 |first = Xuefei| last=Chan |newspaper = People's Daily |access-date= 5 April 2008}} He became a Knight Bachelor in the 2004 New Year Honours in recognition of his work in stem cell research.{{London Gazette|issue=57155 |supp=y|page=1|date=31 December 2003}} He received the accolade from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace on 25 June 2004.{{London Gazette|issue=57391|page=10694|date=24 August 2004}} In 2007, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies for their work in discovering a method for introducing homologous recombination in mice employing embryonic stem cells. Evans was appointed president of Cardiff University and was inaugurated into that position on 23 November 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/nobel-laureate-appointed-as-president-at-cardiff-university.html|title=Nobel Laureate appointed as president at Cardiff University|access-date=25 November 2009|publisher=Cardiff University|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129155813/http://cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/nobel-laureate-appointed-as-president-at-cardiff-university.html|archive-date=29 November 2010|df=dmy-all}} Subsequently, Evans became Chancellor of Cardiff University in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/about/whoswho/whoswhopresident|title=Who's who at Cardiff}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He is an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge.{{Cite web|url=http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/people/professor-sir-martin-evans-frs|title=St Edmund's College - University of Cambridge|website=www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-09-10}}

=Stem cell research=

Evans and Kaufman isolated the embryonic stem cells from early embryos (embryoblasts) of mice and established them in cell cultures. These early embryonic cells have the potential to differentiate into any of the cells of the adult organism. They modified these stem cells genetically and placed them in the wombs of female mice so they would give birth to genetically modified offspring.

In 1981, Evans and Kaufman published results for experiments in which they described how they isolated embryonic stem cells from mouse blastocysts and grew them in cell cultures.{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/adv.html|title=The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Advanced Information|last=Hansson|first=Göran K|publisher=Nobelprize.org|access-date=26 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016091331/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2007/adv.html|archive-date=16 October 2010|df=dmy-all}}{{cite journal |vauthors=Evans M, Kaufman M | title = Establishment in culture of pluripotential cells from mouse embryos | journal = Nature | volume = 292 | issue = 5819 | pages = 154–6 |date=July 1981 | pmid = 7242681 | doi = 10.1038/292154a0| bibcode = 1981Natur.292..154E | s2cid = 4256553 }} This was also achieved by Gail R. Martin, independently, in the same year.{{cite journal | author = Martin G | title = Isolation of a pluripotent cell line from early mouse embryos cultured in medium conditioned by teratocarcinoma stem cells | journal = Proc Natl Acad Sci USA | volume = 78 | issue = 12 | pages = 7634–8 |date=December 1981 | pmid = 6950406 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.78.12.7634 | pmc = 349323| bibcode = 1981PNAS...78.7634M | doi-access = free }} Eventually, Evans was able to isolate the embryonic stem cell of the early mouse embryo and establish it in a cell culture. He then genetically modified it and implanted it into adult female mice with the intent of creating genetically modified offspring, the forebears of the laboratory mice that are considered so vital to medical research today. The availability of these cultured stem cells eventually made possible the introduction of specific gene alterations into the germ line of mice and the creation of transgenic mice to use as experimental models for human illnesses.

Evans and his collaborators showed that they could introduce a new gene into cultured embryonic stem cells and then use such genetically transformed cells to make chimeric embryos.{{cite journal |vauthors=Bradley A, Evans M, Kaufman MH, Robertson E | title = Formation of germ-line chimaeras from embryo-derived teratocarcinoma cell lines | journal = Nature | volume = 309| issue = 5965 | pages = 255–256 | year = 1984 | pmid = 6717601 | doi = 10.1038/309255a0| bibcode = 1984Natur.309..255B | s2cid = 4335599 }} In some chimeric embryos, the genetically altered stem cells produced gametes, thus allowing transmission of the artificially induced mutation into future generations of mice.{{cite journal | author = Robertson E | author2 = Bradley, A. | author3 = Kuehn, M. | author4 = Evans, M. | title = Germ-line transmission of genes introduced into cultured pluripotential cells by retroviral vector | journal = Nature | volume = 323| issue = 6087 | pages = 445–448 | year = 1986 | pmid = 3762693 | doi = 10.1038/323445a0| bibcode = 1986Natur.323..445R | s2cid = 4241422 }} In this way, transgenic mice with induced mutations in the enzyme Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) were created.{{cite journal |vauthors=Kuehn MR, Bradley A, Robertson EJ, Evans MJ | title = A potential animal model for Lesch-Nyhan syndrome through introduction of HPRT mutations into mice | journal = Nature | volume = 326 | issue = 5819 | pages = 295–298 | year = 1987 | pmid = 3029599 | doi = 10.1038/326295a0| bibcode = 1987Natur.326..295K | s2cid = 1657244 }} The HPRT mutations were produced by retroviral insertion; it was proposed that by taking advantage of genetic recombination between the normal HPRT gene and an artificial gene sequenced added to the cultured embryonic stem cells, "it may also eventually be possible to produce specific alterations in endogenous genes through homologous recombination with cloned copies modified in vitro". The production of transgenic mice using this proposed approach was accomplished in the laboratories of Oliver Smithies,{{cite journal | author = Doetschman T | author2 = Gregg, R.G. | author3 = Maeda, N. | author4 = Hooper, M.L. | author5 = Melton, D.W. | author6 = Thompson, S. | author7 = Smithies, O. | title =Germ-line transmission of a planned alteration made in a hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 86 | issue = 22 | pages = 8927–8931 | year = 1989 | pmid = 2573070 | doi =10.1073/pnas.86.22.8927 | pmc = 298403| bibcode = 1989PNAS...86.8927K | doi-access = free }} and of Mario Capecchi.{{cite journal |vauthors=Thomas KR, Deng C, Capecchi MR | title = High-fidelity gene targeting in embryonic stem cells by using sequence replacement vectors | journal = Mol Cell Biol | volume = 12| issue = 7 | pages = 2919–2923 | year = 1992 | pmid = 1620105 | pmc = 364504| doi = 10.1128/mcb.12.7.2919 }}

Personal life

When Evans was a student in Cambridge he met his wife, Judith Clare Williams, at a lunch held by his aunt, wife of an astronomy professor. After they were engaged, their relationship did not go well and Judith went to live in Canada; however, a year later she returned to England and they married. In 1978, they moved from London to Cambridge with their young children, where they lived for more than 20 years before moving to Cardiff. They have one daughter and two sons.{{cite web

|url=http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/newsandevents/news/newsstories/albert-lasker-award.html

|title=2001 Albert Lasker Award - Acceptance remarks by Martin Evans

|access-date=10 May 2008

|publisher=Lasker Foundation

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320031840/http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/newsandevents/news/newsstories/albert-lasker-award.html

|archive-date=20 March 2012

}} Their older son was a student at the University of Cambridge and their younger son was a boarder at Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and sang in Christ Church Cathedral choir.

His wife Judith Clare Williams, granddaughter of Christopher Williams, was appointed MBE for her services to practice nursing in the 1993 New Year Honours.{{London Gazette|issue=53153 |supp=y|page=14|date=30 December 1992}}{{cite web

|url = http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/564324_5

|title = Leader of the Stem Cell Revolution Wins Nobel Prize

|access-date = 2 November 2007

|publisher = Medscape Today|date = 2007-10-17

}} She was diagnosed with breast cancer at about the time the family moved to Cardiff. She works for breast cancer charities, and Martin Evans has become a trustee of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Awards and honours

Evans has won numerous awards including:

1990 - Elected an EMBO Member{{cite web|url=http://people.embo.org/profile/martin-j-evans|title=Martin Evans EMBO profile|publisher=European Molecular Biology Organization|location=Heidelberg|website=people.embo.org}}
1993 - Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS){{cite web

|url = http://royalsociety.org/downloaddoc.asp?id=4274

|publisher =The Royal Society

|title = List of Fellows of the Royal Society: 1660–2007: A - J

|access-date = 9 October 2007

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071212012200/http://royalsociety.org/downloaddoc.asp?id=4274 |archive-date = 12 December 2007}}

1998 - Founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.{{cite web

|url = http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/index.php?pid=59&fid=276

|publisher =Academy of Medical Sciences

|title = Directory listing

|access-date = 9 October 2007

}}

1999 - The USA charity March of Dimes awarded their annual prize in Developmental Biology for research into embryonic growth jointly to Professor Richard Gardner at the University of Oxford and Evans.{{cite web

|url = http://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/prize-in-developmental-biology-award-recipient-history.pdf

|title = March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology: Previous Recipients

|access-date = 1 October 2007|publisher = March of Dimes

}}

2001 - Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, jointly with Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies.
{{cite web

|url = http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/2001_b_accept_evans.htm

|title = 2001 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research

|access-date = 10 May 2008

|publisher = Lasker Foundation

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/newsandevents/news/newsstories/albert-lasker-award.html

|title=Albert Lasker Award

|publisher=Cardiff University

|access-date=10 May 2008

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320031840/http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/newsandevents/news/newsstories/albert-lasker-award.html

|archive-date=20 March 2012

}}
- 2002 - Honorary doctorate from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA.{{cite web
|url = http://www.cf.ac.uk/martinevans/biography/index.html

|title =Biography: Professor Sir Martin Evans FRS

|publisher = Cardiff University

|access-date = 10 May 2008

}}
- 2004 - Appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2004 New Year Honours "for services to medical science".
- 2005 - Honorary doctorate from the University of Bath, England.{{cite web
|url = http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/graduation-tues190705.html

|title = Summer graduation ceremonies begin today at Bath Abbey

|date = 2005-07-19

|access-date = 8 October 2007

|publisher = University of Bath

}}
- 2007 - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, jointly with Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies.
- 2008 - Honorary doctorate from University College London, England.{{cite web
|url = http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0809/08091603 | publisher = UCL |title =Honorary Degrees|date =16 September 2008}}
- 2009 - Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Medicine{{cite web|url =http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/gold-medal-for-nobel-prize-winner.html|publisher =Cardiff University|title =Gold Medal for Nobel Prize winner|date =21 January 2009}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url =http://www.rsm.ac.uk/academ/gold.php|publisher =Royal Society of Medicine|title =Gold Medal of the RSM|date =20 January 2009|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081219020603/http://www.rsm.ac.uk/academ/gold.php|archive-date =19 December 2008|df =dmy-all}}
- 2009 - Copley Medal of the Royal Society{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/news.asp?id=8669|title=Royal Society recognises excellence in science|publisher=Royal Society|date=14 July 2009}}
- 2009 - Member of the Advisory Board of the Faraday Institute{{cite web|url=http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday/Advisory.php|title=Faraday Advisory Board|publisher=Faraday Institute|access-date=8 March 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201010749/http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday/Advisory.php|archive-date=1 February 2011|df=dmy-all}}
- 2009 - UCL Prize Lecture in Clinical Science
- 2015 - Elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales
{{div col end}}