In December 1995, the work of over 40 researchers culminated with a landmark publication in Nature. The team had discovered a second breast cancer susceptibility gene: BRCA2. Their discovery revolutionized cancer research and screening in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers and has impacted millions of people’s lives in the years since.
One member of that team was Simon Gregory, PhD, professor in neurosurgery, neurology, and molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke. “I was constructing physical maps as part of the Human Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute,” Gregory said. “The large insert cloned map of the BRCA2 region formed part of my PhD thesis.”
Earlier this year, just after the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the BRCA2 gene, that team of researchers was honored during an unveiling of two commemorative plaques in London. One of the plaques was placed at the laboratories of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, where part of the research was funded.
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