Basic Research at Stanford

First synthesis of biologically active DNA in test tube

First creation of human hybridoma cell line

First report of successful use of monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer

Isolation of pure hematopoietic stem cells from mice

Development of a genetically engineered vaccine to enhance patients’ immunological response against B-cell lymphoma

Development of the microarray technology that allows researchers to see at once which genes of the thousands present in a cell are switched “on”

Discovery that the p53 protein, known to be involved in controlling cancerous tumors, works as an “emergency brake” on cancer development

Discovery that mutations in a single gene are responsible for the most common form of skin cancer in humans

Completion of a multicenter trial showing that standard chemotherapy for most children with early-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be safely reduced

First use of gene expression profiling to distinguish cancer sub-types

First use of RNAi to switch off genes in mice

Discovery that Wnt genes, first discovered as critical genes in cancer, are also critical regulators of stem cell development