Liane B. Russell, 1993
Citation:
For her outstanding contributions to genetics and radiation
biology including her discovery of the chromosomal basis for sex
determination in mammals and her contributions to our knowledge of the
effects of radiation on the developing embryo and fetus. Her findings,
and their implications for humans, have been the benchmark for the
study of mutations in mammals and for genetic risk assessment
worldwide.
Biography
Liane B. Russell has made fundamental scientific contributions
to basic genetics, teratogenesis, and mutagenesis. Some of the most
renowned are her discovery of the chromosomal basis for
sex-determination in mammals by establishing that the Y chromosome
determines maleness in mammals, her demonstration that only one of two
X chromosomes in a cell is active, and her discovery that mutations
induced in reproductive cells at different stages differ qualitatively
as well as quantitatively. Her findings, and their implications for
humans, have been the benchmark for mammalian mutagenesis and for
genetic risk assessment worldwide.
At a time when only scattered reports were available about the
effects of radiation on embryos and fetuses, Dr. Russell undertook an
extensive, systematic study in mice on the relationship between
prenatal irradiation and the occurrence of developmental anomalies and
birth defects. She was the first to identify periods during embryogeny
that were critical for the normal development of various parts of the
body. Her data helped convince doctors of the need for precautions
against exposure of embryos to diagnostic irradiation, especially
during very early stages when a pregnancy might still be unsuspected.
Her specific recommendations for avoiding such exposures were accepted
by the national and international medical community. Subsequent to her
studies on developmental effects, Russell devoted her energies to
studying the frequency and nature of mutations induced by radiations
and chemicals in reproductive cells and transmitted to the next or
future generations. She pioneered a number of mammalian mutagenesis
tests that are in use worldwide.
Dr. Russell has been a leader in effecting the transition from
classical genetics to molecular analysis. She had the foresight to
preserve numerous mutants and subject them to in-depth genetic and
functional analyses. Her group is now using this mutational resource
as biological reagents for DNA-function/structure mapping and
characterization of selected regions of the mouse genome and of
corresponding portions of the human genome. The mouse provides an
excellent model for exploring the in vivo functions of human genes and
for studying the nature of genetic disorders because neither inducing
mutations nor experimenting on development are feasible in humans.
Recent examples of mutations being studied by Russell's group are some
that cause congenital cleft palate, polycystic kidney disease,
obesity/diabetes, and auto-immune disorder.
Over the past three decades, Russell has had a second career as a
volunteer activist for the protection of wild and natural lands and
rivers in Tennessee and the Nation. With the help of an organization
she helped to found, her efforts have led, among other things, to the
designation of the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River and
Recreation Area and the Obed National Wild and Scenic River. Last year
she received the prestigious Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Award of the
National Parks and Conservation Association.
Liane Brauch Russell was born in 1923 in Vienna, Austria. She
earned her A.B. from Hunter College in New York City in 1945 and she
became a naturalized citizen in 1946. She earned her Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago. Dr. Russell began her career as a research
assistant at Jackson Memorial Laboratory and as a fellow at the
University of Chicago. In 1947, she moved to Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, where she is currently Senior Corporate Fellow and Section
Head. Her many honors include the international Roentgen Medal (1973),
Hunter College Hall of Fame (1979), and the Environmental Mutagen
Society's EMS Award (1993). Dr. Russell was elected to the National
Academy of Sciences in 1986.