User:Mlhembr/sandbox

Christine Guthrie

 * Christine Guthrie is a cell biologist and currently a biochemistry professor at The University of California San Francisco. She is known best for her work as a geneticist involving the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RNA, and the splicing process. Guthrie has been recognized in her field with awards such as the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Merck Award in 2011 (1), as well as Lifetime Achievement Award from the RNA Society in 2006 (2).

Research

 * Guthrie has published multiple papers on the splicing process and completed research on the cellular processes involved. For example, she, Roy Parker, and Paul Siliciano discovered that mRNA splicing in yeast requires the recognition of the TACTAAC box and base pairing to a U2-like snRNA (3). With Katrin Stade, Charleen Ford, and Karsten Weis, she investigated the mechanisms of nuclear protein export and the signals which mediate them. They identified CRM1 as a carrier for this transport process, and also tightly coupled with mRNA transport in their paper Exportin 1 (Crm1p) Is an Essential Nuclear Export Factor (4).

Life

 * In addition to receiving numerous awards and publishing several papers, Christine Guthrie has also been described as a mentor to rising scientists. For example, one of Guthrie's formal doctoral students, Hiten Madhani said, “If one were to ask any well-informed molecular biologists who were the two women who have had the greatest impact on the field of RNA splicing, the unanimous answer would be Christine Guthrie and Joan Steitz. Christine’s contributions to the field over the past quarter century have been numerous and read like the greatest hits of RNA splicing” (1). Joan Steitz speaks of Guthrie saying, "Christine Guthrie’s pioneering advances have relied on her innovative coupling of biochemistry and genetics starting from the beginning of her distinguished career. Christine is not only an inspiring role model to her peers and to younger scientists, but her mentorship has guided the careers of a number of today’s leaders in the RNA field worldwide” (1).
 * However, this success has not come without its struggles. Guthrie has spoken of her difficulty as a woman in science, facing prejudice during her graduate research at the laboratory of Masayasu Nomura and her postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute in Germany (2). Guthrie even experienced an episode of depression after a negative review as an assistant professor at the University of California San Francisco. However, with the support and encouragement of her colleagues, she was able to recover and continues to teach at UCSF.

Links

 * Guthrie's Lab UCSF: http://biochemistry.ucsf.edu/labs/guthrie/people/christine.htm
 * Full List of Publications: http://profiles.ucsf.edu/christine.guthrie