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Luciano Marraffini

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Luciano Marraffini
Born
Luciano Angel Marraffini

(1974-07-17) July 17, 1974 (age 50)
Rosario, Argentina
Nationality
Alma mater
Known forCRISPR
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsThe Rockefeller University
ThesisSortases, transpeptidases that anchor proteins to the envelope of Gram-positive bacteria (2007)
Academic advisorsOlaf Schneewind
Websitemarraffini.rockefeller.edu

Luciano Marraffini (born July 17, 1974) is an Argentinian-American microbiologist. He is currently professor and head of the laboratory of bacteriology at The Rockefeller University.[1] He is recognized for his work on CRISPR-Cas systems, being one of the first scientists to elucidate how these systems work at the molecular level.

Early life and education

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Marraffini was born and raised in Rosario, Argentina. He had two passions growing up: following his hometown soccer team Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys, and reading about science.[2] Marraffini attended the Escuela Dante Alighieri high school and then entered the Facultad de Ciencias Bioquimicas y Farmaceuticas at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario to pursue a degree in Biotechnology. As an undergraduate he studied the biochemistry of plant ferredoxin-NADP⁺ reductases under the guidance of Dr. Eduardo Ceccarelli.[3] Marraffini moved to Chicago for his doctoral studies. He earned a PhD from the University of Chicago investigating the biochemistry and biological role of sortase, a transpeptidase that links surface proteins to the envelope of Gram-positive bacteria, in the laboratory of Dr. Olaf Schneewind.[4][5][6]

Research

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In 2008, Marraffini joined the laboratory of Dr. Erik Sontheimer at Northwestern University as a Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Fellow. In the Sontheimer lab, Marraffini pioneered the study the molecular mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas systems. Using bacterial genetics, he determined that CRISPR-Cas immunity uses sequence-specific DNA destruction to neutralize invaders.[7] This study was key to understand the mechanisms of CRISPR immunity at the molecular level and also predicted the existence of RNA-programmable Cas nucleases and their current applications to gene editing.

In 2010, Marraffini joined the faculty of The Rockefeller University to continue studying CRISPR-Cas immunity.[8] In 2012, he initiated a collaboration with Dr. Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard that culminated in the development of the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 technologies to edit the genomes of bacteria and human cells.[9][10] Currently, research in the Marraffini Lab focuses on the elucidation of the mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas immunity in bacteria.[11]

Awards and honors

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For work in his own laboratory, he was honored with the Searle Scholars award in 2011,[12] the NIH Director's New Innovator Award in 2012,[13] the Hans Sigrist Prize from the University of Bern in 2015,[14] the Earl and Thressa Stadtman Scholar Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (jointly with Georgios Skiniotis) in 2016[15] and the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award[16] and the Albany Medical Center Prize (jointly with Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna, Francisco Mojica and Feng Zhang) in 2017.[17]

He was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2017, Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2019 and Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.[18][19][20] Marraffini was appointed investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in 2018[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Luciano Marraffini, Ph.D." www.rockefeller.edu. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  2. ^ Chao, Michael. "Micro-Interview #3". naturemicrobiologycommunity.nature.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Dr. Eduardo A. Ceccarelli CV" (PDF). www.fbioyf.unr.edu.ar. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. ^ Marraffini, Luciano A. (2007). Sortases, transpeptidases that anchor proteins to the envelope of Gram-positive bacteria (PhD). University of Chicago.
  5. ^ Marraffini, Luciano A.; Schneewind, Olaf (22 April 2005). "Anchor Structure of Staphylococcal Surface Proteins". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 280 (16): 16263–16271. doi:10.1074/jbc.M500071200. PMID 15718231.
  6. ^ Marraffini, Luciano A.; DeDent, Andrea C.; Schneewind, Olaf (1 March 2006). "Sortases and the Art of Anchoring Proteins to the Envelopes of Gram-Positive Bacteria". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 70 (1): 192–221. doi:10.1128/MMBR.70.1.192-221.2006. ISSN 1092-2172. PMC 1393253. PMID 16524923.
  7. ^ Marraffini, Luciano A.; Sontheimer, Erik J. (19 December 2008). "CRISPR Interference Limits Horizontal Gene Transfer in Staphylococci by Targeting DNA". Science. 322 (5909): 1843–1845. Bibcode:2008Sci...322.1843M. doi:10.1126/science.1165771. PMC 2695655. PMID 19095942.
  8. ^ "Microbiologist to join Rockefeller faculty". Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  9. ^ Jiang, Wenyan; Bikard, David; Cox, David; Zhang, Feng; Marraffini, Luciano A (29 January 2013). "RNA-guided editing of bacterial genomes using CRISPR-Cas systems". Nature Biotechnology. 31 (3): 233–239. doi:10.1038/nbt.2508. PMC 3748948. PMID 23360965.
  10. ^ Cong, L.; Ran, F. A.; Cox, D.; Lin, S.; Barretto, R.; Habib, N.; Hsu, P. D.; Wu, X.; Jiang, W.; Marraffini, L. A.; Zhang, F. (3 January 2013). "Multiplex Genome Engineering Using CRISPR/Cas Systems". Science. 339 (6121): 819–823. Bibcode:2013Sci...339..819C. doi:10.1126/science.1231143. PMC 3795411. PMID 23287718.
  11. ^ "The Biology of CRISPR-Cas Immunity". marraffini.rockefeller.edu. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Awardees". www.searlescholars.net. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  13. ^ "NIH Director's New Innovator Award Recipients". commonfund.nih.gov. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Promising approach awarded for combating antibiotic resistance". www.uniaktuell.unibe.ch. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Earl And Thressa Stadtman Young Scholar Award". www.asbmb.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  16. ^ "NIH Director's Pioneer Award Recipients - 2017 Awardees". commonfund.nih.go. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  17. ^ Ford Rajchel, Sue. "Gene Editing Pioneers Selected to Receive America's Most Distinguished Prize in Medicine". www.amc.edu. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  18. ^ "73 Fellows Elected to the American Academy of Microbiology". www.asm.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Luciano A. Marraffini". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Luciano A. Marraffini". www.amacad.org. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  21. ^ "Luciano Marraffini, PhD". HHMI.org. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
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