Who is Richard Axel? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Age: 78 Years, 78 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Ann Axel, Cornelia Bargmann

Educators Molecular Biologists

Notable Alumni: Johns Hopkins School Of Medicine

U.S. State: New Yorkers

More Facts

education: Columbia University, Columbia College, Johns Hopkins School Of Medicine

Recommended For You

Recommended Lists:

Childhood & Early Life

Richard Axel was born to Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his childhood playing basketball and stickball on the streets of Brooklyn.

At the age of eleven, he started working for a dentist and his job was to deliver false teeth. He continued to do many odd jobs like laying carpets and working at restaurants.

He attended the Stuyvesant High School, a school known for its well-organised and established academic programs. Here, he played basketball and was also exposed to art, music and opera.

In 1967, he graduated from Columbia University. Here, he worked as a Research Assistant in the laboratory of Bernard Weinstein, a Professor of Medicine, and became immensely interested in genetics.

In 1971, he received an MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore. Later that year, he joined the laboratory of Sol Spiegelman, a professor in the Department of Genetics at Columbia University.

Continue Reading Below

Recommended Lists:

Cancer Scientists

American Educators

American Scientists

American Molecular Biologists

Career

In 1972, he began his second post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked with Gary Felsenfeld on DNA and chromatin structure.

In 1974, he returned to Columbia University as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Cancer Research, where he researched on ‘the structure of genes in chromatin’.

In 1978, he became a full-time professor of pathology and biochemistry at Columbia University.

On May 1, 1978, in collaboration with his colleagues, Angel Pellicer, Michael Wigler and Saul J. Silverstein, he published his first paper titled ‘The transfer and stable integration of the HSV thymidine kinase gene into mouse cells’.

In 1980, along with microbiologist Saul J. Silverstein and geneticist Michael H. Wigler, he filed for ‘Axel Patent’, a path-breaking discovery in DNA transfection.

In 1988, along with fellow researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, he determined the link between HIV infection and ‘immunoreceptor CD4’ and discovered that the soluble form of CD4 inhibits the AIDS virus.

In April 1991, he partnered with biologist Linda B. Buck, and published the Nobel Prize winning paper, ‘A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odour recognition’.

Major Works

His seminal paper on ‘olfactory receptors’ was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004. His research laid the foundation for genetic and molecular analysis, which is used by a number of pharmaceutical laboratories and scientists around the world.

In 1983, along with his colleagues he founded the ‘Axel Patents’, a technique of genetically engineering cells. The royalties from this patented discovery has raised an estimated $600 million. The proteins obtained from this technology have been used in many pharmaceutical drugs.

Awards & Achievements

In 1983, he was elected a ‘Fellow’ of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1997, he received the New York City Mayor's Award for ‘Excellence in the field of Science and Technology’.

In 1998, he was honoured with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for ‘Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research’.

In 2001, he received the New York Academy of Medicine Medal for ‘Distinguished Contributions in Biomedical Sciences’.

In 2003, he was the recipient of the ‘The Gairdner Foundation International Award’ for ‘Achievement in the field of Neuroscience’.

In 2004, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Linda B. Buck for their work on the ‘olfactory system’.

Personal Life & Legacy

He is married to Cornelia ‘Cori’ Bargmann, fellow scientist and neurobiologist.

Richard Axel Biography