German virologist (1936?2023)
Harald zur Hausen
NAS
EASA
APS
(
German pronunciation:
[?ha?alt
tsuː??
?ha?zn?]
ⓘ
; 11 March 1936 ? 29 May 2023) was a German
virologist
. He carried out research on
cervical cancer
and discovered the role of
papilloma viruses
in cervical cancer, for which he received the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 2008. He was chairman of the
German Cancer Research Center
(
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
, DKFZ) in
Heidelberg
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Zur Hausen was born in
Gelsenkirchen
[1]
in a Catholic family. He completed his
Abitur
at Antonianum Grammar School in
Vechta
, then studied medicine at the universities of
Bonn
from 1955,
Hamburg
from 1957, and
Dusseldorf
from 1958, and received a
Doctor of Medicine
degree there in 1960.
[1]
He pursued internships in
Wimbern
,
Isny
, Gelsenkirchen, and Dusseldorf, qualifying as a physician in 1962.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
He joined the Institute for Microbiology at the University of Dusseldorf as a laboratory assistant in 1962.
[1]
After three and a half years there, he moved to
Philadelphia
to work at the Virus Laboratories of
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
together with eminent virologists
Werner and Gertrude Henle
,
[2]
who had escaped from Nazi Germany. In 1967, he contributed to a ground-breaking study that for the first time proved a virus (
Epstein?Barr virus
) can turn healthy cells (lymphocytes) into cancer cells.
[3]
[4]
He became an assistant professor at the
University of Pennsylvania
in 1968.
[1]
In 1969, he returned to Germany to become a regular teaching and researching professor at the
University of Wurzburg
's Institute for Virology. In 1972, he moved to the
University of Erlangen?Nuremberg
. In 1977, he moved on to the
University of Freiburg
(Breisgau), where he headed the Department of Virology and Hygiene.
[1]
Working with
Lutz Gissmann
, zur Hausen first isolated human papillomavirus 6 by simple centrifugation from
genital warts
.
[5]
He isolated HPV 6 DNA from genital warts, suggesting a possible new way of identifying viruses in human tumours. This discovery paid off several years later, in 1983, when zur Hausen identified HPV 16 DNA in
cervical cancer
tumours by means of
Southern blot
hybridization.
[6]
This was followed by the discovery of HPV18 a year later,
[7]
thus identifying the causes of approximately 75% of human cervical cancer. The announcement of his breakthrough sparked a major scientific controversy.
[8]
From 1983 until 2003, zur Hausen served as chairman of the board and scientific advisory board member of the
German Cancer Research Center
(
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
, DKFZ) in
Heidelberg
[9]
and as professor of medicine at
Heidelberg University
.
[10]
From 2007 to 2011, zur Hausen was a member of the scientific advisory board of Zukunftskolleg at the
University of Konstanz
.
[11]
He was editor-in-chief of the
International Journal of Cancer
until the end of 2010.
[11]
[12]
On 1 January 2010, zur Hausen became the vice president of
German Cancer Aid
, the largest cancer charity in
Europe
.
[11]
Scientific merits
[
edit
]
Zur Hausen's field of research was the study of
oncoviruses
. In 1976, he hypothesised that
human papillomavirus
plays an important role in causing
cervical cancer
. Together with his collaborators, he then identified HPV16 and HPV18 in cervical cancers in 1983?84. This research made possible the development of the
HPV vaccine
, the first formulation of which was commercialised in 2006. He is also credited with discovery of the virus causing
genital warts
(HPV 6) and a monkey lymphotropic polyomavirus that is a close relative to a recently discovered human
Merkel cell polyomavirus
, as well as of techniques to immortalise cells with Epstein?Barr virus and to induce replication of the virus using phorbol esters. His work on papillomaviruses and cervical cancer received a great deal of scientific criticism when first published but subsequently was confirmed and was used as the basis for research on other high-risk papillomaviruses.
[8]
Nobel Prize
[
edit
]
Zur Hausen shared the 2008
Nobel Prize in Medicine
with
Luc Montagnier
and
Francoise Barre-Sinoussi
, the discoverers of the
human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV).
[13]
The award of the 2008 Nobel Prize to zur Hausen became controversial following the revelation that Bo Angelin, a member of the Nobel Assembly that year, also sat on the board of
AstraZeneca
, a company that earns
patent
royalties for HPV vaccines.
[14]
The controversy was exacerbated by the fact that AstraZeneca had also entered into a partnership with Nobel Web and Nobel Media to sponsor documentaries and lectures to increase awareness of the prize.
[14]
However, colleagues widely felt that the award was deserved,
[15]
and the secretary of the Nobel Committee and Assembly issued a statement affirming that Bo Angelin was unaware of AstraZeneca's HPV vaccine patents at the time of the vote.
[14]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Zur Hausen had three sons from his first marriage, Jan Dirk, Axel and Gerrit. In 1993, he married Ethel-Michele de Villiers,
[1]
who at the time was a fellow researcher at the
German Cancer Research Center
, and who in prior years had co-authored many research journal articles with zur Hausen on papilloma virus and genital cancer, dating as far back as 1981.
[5]
[4]
He acknowledged her research contributions and support in his Nobel Prize biography.
[16]
Zur Hausen died on 29 May 2023, at age 87.
[4]
[9]
[17]
[18]
[19]
Books
[
edit
]
Awards
[
edit
]
Memberships
[
edit
]
Honorary degrees
[
edit
]
Zur Hausen received almost 40 honorary doctorates and numerous honorary professorships,
[9]
[18]
including degrees from the universities of Chicago, Umea, Prague, Salford, Helsinki, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Ferrara, Guadalajara and Sal.
[41]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Curriculum vitae"
(PDF)
.
science-connections.com
. 2007
. Retrieved
1 June
2023
.
- ^
"Henle, Werner and Gertrude. Papers"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 August 2009
. Retrieved
27 May
2016
.
- ^
Henle, Werner (1 September 1967). "Herpes-Type Virus and Chromosome Marker in Normal Leukocytes after Growth with Irradiated Burkitt Cells | Science".
Science
.
157
(3792): 1064?1065.
doi
:
10.1126/science.157.3792.1064
.
PMID
6036237
.
S2CID
30764560
.
- ^
a
b
c
Muller-Jung, Joachim (30 May 2023).
"Sein Ansatz war die radikale Krebspravention"
.
FAZ
(in German)
. Retrieved
31 May
2023
.
- ^
a
b
zur Hausen H, de Villiers EM, Gissmann L (October 1981). "Papillomavirus infections and human genital cancer".
Gynecol Oncol
.
12
(2 Pt 2): S124?8.
doi
:
10.1016/0090-8258(81)90067-6
.
PMID
6273261
.
- ^
M Durst; L Gissmann; H Ikenberg; H zur Hausen (1 June 1983).
"A papillomavirus DNA from a cervical carcinoma and its prevalence in cancer biopsy samples from different geographic regions"
.
PNAS
.
80
(12): 3812?3815.
Bibcode
:
1983PNAS...80.3812D
.
doi
:
10.1073/pnas.80.12.3812
.
PMC
394142
.
PMID
6304740
.
- ^
Boshart, M; Gissmann, L; Ikenberg, H; Kleinheinz, A; Scheurlen, W; zur Hausen, H (1984).
"A new type of papillomavirus DNA, its presence in genital cancer biopsies and in cell lines derived from cervical cancer"
(PDF)
.
EMBO J
.
3
(5): 1151?7.
doi
:
10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb01944.x
.
PMC
557488
.
PMID
6329740
. Retrieved
17 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Harald zur Hausen / German virologist
. June 2023
. Retrieved
1 June
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen has passed away"
.
DKFZ
. Retrieved
29 May
2023
.
- ^
"Nobelpreistrager ? Universitat Heidelberg"
. Archived from
the original
on 25 December 2008
. Retrieved
8 February
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
"Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen"
(PDF)
.
Leopoldina
(in German). 28 May 2023
. Retrieved
1 June
2023
.
- ^
zur Hausen, Harald (1 July 2002).
"Volume 100 of theInternational Journal of Cancer"
.
International Journal of Cancer
.
100
(1): 1.
doi
:
10.1002/ijc.10499
.
ISSN
0020-7136
.
S2CID
221775223
.
- ^
a
b
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008"
. Nobelprize.org. 6 October 2008
. Retrieved
6 October
2008
.
2008 Nobel Prize winner "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer"
- ^
a
b
c
Cohen, Jon (15 December 2008).
"A Nobel Prize for Overblown Controversy?"
.
Science Insider
. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from
the original
on 14 June 2013
. Retrieved
27 July
2012
.
- ^
Cohen, J; Enserink, M (2008).
"HIV, HPV Researchers Honored, but One Scientist is Left Out"
.
Science
.
322
(5899): 174?175.
doi
:
10.1126/science.322.5899.174
.
PMID
18845715
.
S2CID
206582472
.
- ^
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008: Harald zur Hausen"
.
The Nobel Prize
. 2008
. Retrieved
1 February
2023
.
- ^
Heflik, Katharina.
"Nobelpreistrager Harald zur Hausen ist tot"
.
Die Zeit
(in German)
. Retrieved
29 May
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Medizin-Nobelpreistrager Harald zur Hausen gestorben"
.
ZDFmediathek
(in German). 29 May 2023
. Retrieved
29 May
2023
.
- ^
"Traueranzeige von Harald zur Hausen"
(in German)
. Retrieved
12 July
2023
.
- ^
"Awards"
.
Robert-Koch-Stiftung
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Lila and Murray Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award and Lectureship"
.
aad.org
. American Academy of Dermatology Association
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
Hausen, Harald Zur (15 May 1987).
"Charles S. Mott prize papillomaviruses in human cancer"
.
Cancer
.
59
(10): 1692?1696.
doi
:
10.1002/1097-0142(19870515)59:10<1692::AID-CNCR2820591003>3.0.CO;2-F
.
PMID
3030526
.
S2CID
71987233
.
- ^
"Prize Winners of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize"
(PDF)
.
uni-frankfurt.de
. The Paul Ehrlich Foundation
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"APS Member History"
.
search.amphilsoc.org
. Retrieved
3 December
2021
.
- ^
"Harald zur Hausen Receives Raymond Bourgine Award"
(PDF)
. Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum in Heidelberg. 30 January 2006
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"William B. Coley Award"
.
cancerresearch.org
. Cancer Research Institute
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"2007 Recipients"
.
Warren Alpert Foundation Prize
. Warren Alpert Foundation
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research: Past Recipients"
.
aacr.org
. American Association for Cancer Research
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Harald zur Hausen"
. The Gairdner Foundation. Archived from
the original
on 24 July 2008
. Retrieved
25 May
2008
.
- ^
"Bundesverdienstkreuz fur Nobelpreistrager Harald zur Hausen"
.
German Cancer Research Center
(in German)
. Retrieved
1 June
2023
.
- ^
"All Award Recipients"
. American Society of Clinical Oncology
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Previous winners of the Mike Price Gold Medal Award"
.
eacr.org
. The European Association for Cancer Research
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Academy of Europe: Hausen Harald"
.
www.ae-info.org
. Retrieved
5 August
2022
.
- ^
"APS Member History"
.
search.amphilsoc.org
. Retrieved
5 August
2022
.
- ^
"Harald zur Hausen"
.
www.nasonline.org
. Retrieved
3 December
2021
.
- ^
SPHINX Yearbook 2010-2011
. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica. 2011.
- ^
"Honorary Fellows of the World Hellenic Biomedical Association"
.
WHBA
. World Hellenic Biomedical Association
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Harald zur Hausen, MD ? Class of 2013"
.
aacr.org
.
American Association for Cancer Research
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Honorary members"
. German Society of Virology
. Retrieved
17 October
2022
.
- ^
"Novi ?lani Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti"
[The New Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts].
Sazu.si
. June 2015
. Retrieved
17 October
2016
.
- ^
"Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Harald zur Hausen / Nobelpreistrager fur Medizin 2008"
.
DKFZ
. Retrieved
1 June
2023
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- "Harald zur Hausen"
.
science-connections.com
(in German)
. Retrieved
2 June
2023
.
(interview, CV, publications)
- Cornwall, Claudia Maria (2013).
Catching Cancer: The Quest for its Viral and Bacterial Causes
. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
ISBN
978-1-4422-1522-1
.
OCLC
834582359
.
- Morgan, Gregory J (2022). "Planned Practical Playoffs: Harald zur Hausen, Jian Zhou, Ian Frazer, Douglas Lowy, John Schiller, HPV, and the Cervical Cancer Vaccine".
Cancer Virus Hunters: A History of Tumor Virology
. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press
.
ISBN
9781421444017
.
OCLC
1276804549
.
External links
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