2 Hebrew University scientists awarded W...( Jerusalem Jan. 9. 2008 -- Two Hebrew...),Health

Jerusalem, Jan. 9. 2008 -- Two Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers, Prof. Howard Cedar and Prof. Aharon Razin, have been awarded the 2008 Wolf Prize in Medicine for their fundamental contributions to the control of gene expression and cancer research.

Minister of Education Prof. Yuli Tamir, chairperson of the Wolf Foundation Council, announced that the $100,000 prize, often referred to as Israels Nobel Prize, will be awarded to Professors Cedar and Razin of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School ''for their fundamental contributions to our understanding of the role of DNA methylation in the biological function of higher organisms, with widespread impact on studies of development, control of gene expression and cancer research.''

DNA methylation (chemical changes in the DNA molecule) is a very basic aspect of animal cell biology involved in the regulation of a large number of physiological, developmental and pathological processes. The foundations of this field were laid, almost exclusively, through the work of Cedar and Razin.

Born in the US in 1943, Howard Cedar received his Ph.D. from New York University in 1970. From 1971 to 1973, he was a research associate at the National Institutes of Health in the US. Prof. Cedar has been associated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 1973 in the Department of Cellular Biochemistry and Human Genetics at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School. He is the incumbent of the Harry and Helen L. Brenner Chair in Molecular Biology and is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Born in Israel in 1935, Aharon Razin received his Ph.D. in 1967, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology in 1969/70. Since 1962, Prof. Razin has been affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 1980 to 1984, he was head of the Department of Cellular Biochemistry and has been the Jac
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