Notable Achievements in Research
Baylor College of Medicine researchers have been at the forefront of many of the major advances in biomedical sciences over the last century. They:
- Opened the first center for the treatment of polio in the United States
- Developed the first successful implement to straighten the spines of patients with scoliosis
- Pioneered the field of molecular endocrinology with seminal work on steroid hormone action and the discovery of steroid receptor coactivators, master regulatory cells in the body
- Determined the sequences of chromosomes 3, 12 and part of X as part of their role as one of three centers to complete the Human Genome Project
- Led sequencing of many animal genomes, including the mouse, rat, fruit fly, rhesus monkey, honey bee, sea urchin, marmoset, orangutan, and cow
- Discovered the cytoplasmic microtubule complex in eukaryotic cells, a finding that led to use of a new class of cancer drugs including taxol
- Proved using isoniaizid long-term can prevent TB in children with latent infection
- Invented the Dacron graft
- Found that an enterotoxin is responsible for diarrhea commonly caused in children by rotavirus
- Described the first case of uniparental disomy, in which a child receives both copies of a gene from one parent
- Pioneered gene chip technology that streamlines diagnosis of genetic and chromosomal diseases
- Discovered the gene that causes Rett syndrome, a post natal genetic disorder that affects mainly girls
- Identified new mutations in a cartilage protein that results in a lethal form of the brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfect
- Sequenced and annotated the first personalized genome sequence, that of Dr. James Watson, Nobel laureate who described DNA’s double helix
- Developed a translational technique to train T-cells to kill cancers associated with Epstein-Barr virus
- Pioneered the study of eating disorders
- Conducted first successful surgery on the human genome
- Elucidated the protein interaction network or interactome for autism spectrum disorder
- Developed a new therapy to prevent viral infections after stem cell transplant