Craig Cameron Mello

Dr. Craig C. Mello holds the Blais Chair in Molecular Medicine and is the Co-founder of the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. His collaborative work with Dr. Andrew Fire led to the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi), for which they shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Together they showed that double-stranded ribonucleic acid – dsRNA, can trigger a potent and sequence-specific silencing of cognate cellular RNAs. For the layperson, RNAi is the cell’s search engine; the Google of the cell. Now, using readily-produced short synthetic dsRNAs, researchers (and physicians) can submit RNAi search queries to silence any gene in organisms as diverse as corn and humans. RNAi has led to several approved therapies with dozens more now in development and clinical trials.