Tom Maniatis
Tom Maniatis (born May 8, 1943), is an American professor of molecular and cellular biology. He is a Professor at Columbia University, and serves as the Scientific Director and CEO of the New York Genome Center. Education. Maniatis received B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and a PhD in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University. He carried out postdoctoral studies at Harvard University and at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. Research and career. Maniatis is known for the development and dissemination of gene cloning technologies, and their  application to the study of gene regulatory mechanisms. cDNA Cloning. As an assistant professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard, and a member of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) faculty, Maniatis collaborated with Drs. Fotis Kafatos and Argiris Efstratiadis to develop a method for synthesizing and cloning full length double stranded DNA copies of messenger RNA (termed “copy” or cDNA). This method provided a key step in the isolation of human genes, and in the production of “recombinant” proteins in mammalian cells in culture, a central process in the biotechnology industry. Genomic DNA libraries. Maniatis subsequently joined the  Department of Biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena California, where his laboratory developed methods to isolate and study individual human genes. They generated the first human genomic DNA library containing all of the genes in the human genome. Making it possible to clone (isolate) and study any human gene. Using genomic DNA library, the Maniatis lab isolated and characterized the entire “cluster” of human b-globin genes, which were the first human genes to be cloned and their DNA sequences determined. His laboratory contributed fundamental insights into the mechanisms of RNA transcription, RNA splicing and the regulation  of gene expression. Maniatis returned to Harvard in 1980 where he taught and continued his research for 30 years, moving to his present positions at Columbia University in 2010. After cofounding the New York Genome Center in 2010, he became the Scientific Director and CEO of the center in 2016. Molecular cloning manual. In 1979, the Maniatis lab had developed and deployed gene cloning methods and taught a summer course in gene cloning at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Maniatis co-taught the cloning course with Ed Fritsch. Based on the material presented in the course Maniatis and Fritsch collaborated  with Joseph Sambrook, then the Scientific Director of the CSHL, to write the “Molecular Cloning Manual”. Biotechnology. Maniatis cofounded Genetics Institute, Inc. in 1980 with Mark Ptashne. The company was ultimately acquired by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, after producing several FDA approved drugs “protein biologics” including blood clotting factors for the treatment of hemophilia, and erythropoietin for the treatment of anemia. Maniatis subsequently cofounded ProScript with Fred Goldberg and others from the Harvard Medical School in 1994. The company invented the proteasome inhibitor Velcade (Bortezomid). ProScript was acquired by Millennium/Takeda Pharma and FDA approval of Velcade was obtained for the treatment  of Multiple Myeloma. In 2004 Maniatis cofounded Acceleron Pharma, a TGF-b company that produced “ligand trap” drugs, including REBLOZYL for the treatment of Myodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and b-thalassaemia. In 2006 Maniatis cofounded a gut-brain axis company, Kallyope, with Charles Zuker and Richard Axel, a gut/brain axis company focused on the development of drugs to treat metabolic and inflammatory disorders of the gut. Maniatis’ won the Brandeis University Jacob and Louise Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine along with David Goeddel and William Rudder in 1999. Service. Maniatis has served on the Board of Trustees of the  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Jackson Laboratory, and the Rockefeller University. Maniatis led the ALS Association's initiative TREAT ALS (Translational Research Advancing Therapy for ALS) that combines drug discovery with priorities set for existing drug candidates, to accelerate clinical testing of compounds with promise for treating the disease. He also served on the scientific advisory board of “Prize for Life” founded by Avichai Kremer. Maniatis’ won the Jacob F. Javits Lifetime Achievement Award in ALS research from the ALS Association. Maniatis was a cofounder of the New York Genome Center, headed its scientific steering committee, and has served as  a member of its Board of Directors from its founding in 2011. Maniatis is founding Director of the university-wide Columbia University Precision Medicine Initiative (CPMI), which is dedicated to the application of genomic technology to the advancement of basic and medical science, directed towards the practice of precision medicine (the use of genetic and genomic information to diagnose and treat human diseases). Awards. Maniatis has received Honorary PhD degrees from the University of Athens, the Cold Spring Harbor Graduate School of Biological Sciences, and the Rockefeller University. Maniatis was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the  American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1985, and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in 2012.