May 5, 2024

RNA Pioneer Christine Guthrie Dies at 77

Over the following years, Guthrie became an expert in the blossoming field of pre-mRNA splicing, the procedure by which eukaryotic cells get rid of introns from the preliminary hairs of RNA produced by a genes DNA template to produce mature messenger RNA. For her contributions, Guthrie was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993 and got numerous awards, consisting of the Genetics Society Medal in 1997, the Women in Cell Biology Senior Career Recognition Award in 1998, the RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Merck Award in 2011, UCSF notes in its obituary.Guthrie, a prolific scholastic mentor, developed what the RNA Society calls “a generation of RNA biologists,” numerous of whom remember her finest for bringing trainees together as part of a huge academic household.” Guthrie is endured by her hubby, fellow UCSF professor emeritus John Abelson.A 1993 image of Christine Guthrie with previous trainees James Umen and Hiten MadhaniHiten Madhani

Over the following decades, Guthrie ended up being an expert in the growing field of pre-mRNA splicing, the procedure by which eukaryotic cells eliminate introns from the initial hairs of RNA produced by a genes DNA template to produce fully grown messenger RNA. Guthrie invested years utilizing yeast to study pre-mRNA splicing, cloning and sequencing the genes for yeast small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) that are vital for mammalian splicing and developing the systems controlling base pairing in between the snRNAs and their target series at each action of intron elimination. While some yeast snRNAs differed substantially from their mammalian counterparts, disrupting their genes produced splicing problems and hence showed a conservation of function across groups.See “Alternative Splicing Provides a Broad Menu of Proteins for Cells” In later years, Guthrie also focused on spliceosomes, the group of proteins accountable for getting rid of introns from pre-mRNA, and how they facilitate splicing by bringing snRNAs and mRNA together in an organized fashion. For her contributions, Guthrie was chosen to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993 and got numerous awards, consisting of the Genetics Society Medal in 1997, the Women in Cell Biology Senior Career Recognition Award in 1998, the RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Merck Award in 2011, UCSF notes in its obituary.Guthrie, a respected scholastic mentor, produced what the RNA Society calls “a generation of RNA biologists,” numerous of whom remember her finest for bringing trainees together as part of an enormous scholastic family.” Guthrie is survived by her hubby, fellow UCSF professor emeritus John Abelson.A 1993 photo of Christine Guthrie with former students James Umen and Hiten MadhaniHiten Madhani