Renato Dulbecco

Italian-born American virologist (1914-2012)

Renato Dulbecco (February 22, 1914 – February 19, 2012) was an Italian-born American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncogenes. Oncogenes are genes in viruses that cause cancer when they infect animal cells.[2]

Renato Dulbecco
Born(1914-02-22)February 22, 1914
DiedFebruary 19, 2012(2012-02-19) (aged 97)
NationalityItaly, United States[1]
Alma materUniversity of Turin
Known forReverse transcriptase
AwardsNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1975)
Selman A. Waksman Award (1974)
Scientific career
FieldsVirologist
InstitutionsCalifornia Institute of Technology
Salk Institute
London Research Institute

The prize was shared with Howard Temin and David Baltimore. Dulbecco studied at the University of Turin under Giuseppe Levi. His fellow students Salvador Luria and Rita Levi-Montalcini also moved to the U.S. with him and won Nobel prizes. He was drafted into the Italian army in World War II, but later joined the resistance.

References

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  1. Dulbecco was a naturalized American citizen. See Dulbécco, Renato in www.treccani.it
  2. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1975". Nobelprize.org. 12 Sep 2012