C. Thomas Caskey, geneticist who demonstrated the universality of life's code, has died aged 83
Charles Thomas Caskey contributed to many advances in human genetics. He demonstrated the universality of the genetic code; developed one of the earliest applications of DNA fingerprinting in forensic science; was key to the early phases of the Human Genome Project ; and helped to initiate personalized medicine. Enthusiastic, optimistic and extraordinarily generous with his time and knowledge, Caskey mentored a generation of young scientists and physicians. He has died aged 83.
Four years earlier, Nirenberg and Heinrich Matthaei had deciphered the first codon — the three-nucleotide ‘word’ that encodes an amino acid — of the genetic code. Caskey demonstrated the universality of the code by showing that transfer RNAs from bacteria, amphibians and mammals recognized the same codons. Nirenberg wrote: “These results had a profound philosophical impact on me because they indicate that all forms of life on this planet use essentially the same language.
In 1986, Caskey established the Robert J. Kleberg DNA Diagnostics Laboratory at BCM, one of the first DNA diagnostic labs in the United States. It initially offered prenatal diagnosis of sickle-cell disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy , adding more tests as more genes were discovered. Progress in human genetics has been extraordinary, and today Baylor Genetics, successor to the Kleberg lab, offers whole-genome sequencing, completed in five days, as a diagnostic tool.
In 1994, Ed Scolnick, a former postdoc of Caskey’s and at the time head of research at the pharmaceutical company Merck, headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey, invited him to join the company. The result was the Merck Genome Research Institute, which applied genomic approaches to drug and vaccine development.
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