Nobel Prize for Former Balliol Student

Former Balliol student Oliver Smithies will receive the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine, it was revealed yesterday.He, along with Martin J Evans and Mario R Capecchi, has been awarded after developing a technology for manipulating genes in mice, which is now used in nearly all areas of biomedicine. The techniques have led to new insights into conditions including heart disease and cancer, as well as aiding the development of new therapies.Smithies, who began his BA in Chemistry in 1946, is the Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He is also an Honourary Fellow of Balliol.The announcement of the Medicine Award marks the start of the 2007 cycle of Nobel Prize winners, with the final awards revealed on October 15. Historically, Science is dominated by the Americans, but with two Britons winning the accolade for Medicine, the UK has had a good start.