The 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Tomas Lindahl for his mechanistic studies of DNA repair, a process that identifies how genetic material remains stable despite inherent fragility. Born in 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden, he has built a career identifying the specific chemical processes that cells utilize to correct molecular damage before it manifests as disease.
Academic Foundation and Early Research
Lindahl pursued his medical and research training at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, where he earned a PhD in 1967 followed by an MD qualification in 1970. His initial postdoctoral studies took place at Princeton University and Rockefeller University. These formative years established his trajectory in medical chemistry, leading to a professorship at the University of Gothenburg.
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His research shifted the scientific understanding of genomic integrity. Lindahl was the first to isolate a mammalian DNA ligase and identified a novel group of DNA glycosylases that mediate DNA excision repair. His work further detailed how mammalian cells utilize methyltransferases to address DNA alkylation, a response regulated by the ada gene. Additionally, he identified that the molecular defect in Bloom's syndrome is the absence of DNA ligase I.
Institutional Leadership
In 1981, Lindahl joined the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, now known as Cancer Research UK. He became the inaugural director of the Clare Hall Laboratories in Hertfordshire in 1986, a position he held until 2005. This institution later became part of the Francis Crick Institute in 2015. Throughout his tenure, he contributed extensively to the study of B-lymphocyte transformation by the Epstein-Barr virus, specifically describing the presence of closed circular duplex viral DNA.
Professional Recognition
Lindahl has received numerous accolades for his contributions to the field of chemistry. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1988 and the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1998. Major honors include the Royal Medal in 2007, the Prix International de l’INSERM in 2008, and the Copley Medal in 2010. In 2017, he was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the AACR Academy.
Fast facts
- Born: 1938, Stockholm, Sweden
- Education: Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry: 2015
- Copley Medal: 2010
- Royal Medal: 2007
- Primary research field: DNA repair
- Membership: Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences
Questions readers ask
For what scientific achievement did Tomas Lindahl win the Nobel Prize?
He received the prize for his mechanistic studies of DNA repair.
Where did Lindahl conduct his laboratory research?
His career included positions at the University of Gothenburg, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Clare Hall Laboratories, and the Francis Crick Institute.
Achievements
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry — 2015
- Fellow of the Royal Society
- Copley Medal — 2010
- Royal Medal — 2007
- Held posts at Francis Crick Institute, Linköping University and University of Gothenburg
- Educated at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University
- Fields of research: DNA repair and chemistry
