View source for Tomas Lindahl

{{short description|Swedish-British scientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name             = Tomas Lindahl
| honorific_suffix = [[Royal Society|FRS]] [[FMedSci]]
| birth_name       = Tomas Robert Lindahl
| image            = Tomas Lindahl 0113.jpg
| caption          =  Lindahl in 2015
| image_size       = 262px
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1938|1|28}}<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | title=LINDAHL, Tomas Robert | id = U24580 | volume = 2015 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref>
| birth_place      = [[Stockholm]], Sweden
| nationality      = [[Sweden|Swedish]], naturalised [[United Kingdom|British]]<br />([[dual nationality]])
| field            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Cancer research]]
* [[DNA repair]]<ref name=Lindahl2013>{{cite journal|last1=Lindahl|first1=Tomas|title=My Journey to DNA Repair|journal=Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics|volume=11|issue=1|year=2013|pages=2–7|issn=1672-0229|doi=10.1016/j.gpb.2012.12.001|pmid=23453014|pmc=4357663}}</ref>}}
| thesis_title     = On the structure and stability of nucleic acids in solution
| thesis_year      = 1967
| thesis_url       = https://libris.kb.se/bib/1308970
| work_institution = {{Plainlist|
* [[Francis Crick Institute]]
* [[London Research Institute]]
* [[University of Gothenburg]]
* [[Princeton University]]
* [[Rockefeller University]]}}
| alma_mater       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Karolinska Institutet]] (PhD)}}
| known_for        = Clarification of cellular resistance to carcinogens
| prizes           = {{Plainlist|
* [[EMBO Membership]] (1974)<ref name=membo>{{cite web|url=https://people.embo.org/profile/tomas-lindahl|title=Tomas Lindahl EMBO profile|publisher=[[European Molecular Biology Organization]]|location=Heidelberg|website=people.embo.org}}</ref>
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1988)<ref name=royal>{{cite web |url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F1988%2F20%27) |title =Lindahl, Tomas Robert: EC/1988/20 |publisher=The Royal Society |archive-date=2019-07-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710061326/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC/1988/20%27) |location=London}}</ref><ref name=frs/>
* [[FMedSci]] (1998)<ref name=fmedsci>{{cite web|title=Dr Tomas Lindahl FRS FMedSci|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008205352/http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/dr-tomas-lindahl/|archive-date=2015-10-08|url=http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/dr-tomas-lindahl/|publisher=Academy of Medical Sciences|location=London}}</ref>
* [[Royal Medal]] (2007)
* [[Copley Medal]] (2010)
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (2015)}}
| website          = {{URL|http://crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/tomas-lindahl/}}
}}
'''Tomas Robert Lindahl''' (born 28 January 1938) is a Swedish-British scientist specialising in [[cancer research]].<ref name=crick>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201194741/http://crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/tomas-lindahl/|archive-date=2015-12-01|url=http://crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/tomas-lindahl/|title=Emeritus Scientist – Tomas Lindahl|publisher=The Crick}}</ref> In 2015, he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]<ref name=vimeo>{{Vimeo|id=63309327|title=Tomas Lindahl – Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015}}</ref> jointly with American chemist [[Paul L. Modrich]] and [[Turkey|Turkish]] chemist [[Aziz Sancar]] for mechanistic studies of [[DNA repair]].<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|title = Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for DNA Studies|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/science/tomas-lindahl-paul-modrich-aziz-sancarn-nobel-chemistry.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2015-10-07|access-date = 2015-10-07|issn = 0362-4331|first = William J.|last = Broad}}</ref><ref name="NP-20151007">{{cite news |author=Staff |title=THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY 2015 – DNA repair – providing chemical stability for life |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2015/popular-chemistryprize2015.pdf |date=7 October 2015 |work=[[Nobel Prize]] |access-date=2015-10-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cressey|first1=Daniel|title=DNA repair sleuths win chemistry Nobel: Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar share 2015 prize|journal=Nature|volume=526|issue=7573|pages=307–8|year=2015|issn=1476-4687|doi=10.1038/nature.2015.18515|pmid=26469021|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Education ==
Lindahl was born in [[Kungsholmen]], [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]] to Folke Robert Lindahl and Ethel Hulda Hultberg.<ref>Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860–1941</ref> He received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree in 1967,<ref>{{cite book|last=Lindahl|first=Tomas|title=On the structure and stability of nucleic acids in solution|year=1967|location=Stockholm|url=https://libris.kb.se/bib/1308970}}</ref> and an [[Doctor Medicinae (Danish and Norwegian degree)|MD]] degree qualification in 1970, from the [[Karolinska Institutet]] in [[Stockholm]].<ref name=whoswho />

== Career and research==
After obtaining his research doctorate, Lindahl did [[postdoctoral research]] at [[Princeton University]] and [[Rockefeller University]].<ref name="cruk">{{cite web|url=http://science.cancerresearchuk.org/research/loc/london/lifch/lindahlt/|title=Cancer Research UK Grants & Research – Tomas Lindahl|access-date=2008-11-10}}</ref>
He was professor of medical chemistry at the [[University of Gothenburg]] 1978–82. After moving to the United Kingdom he joined the [[Cancer Research UK|Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK)]] as a researcher in 1981.<ref name="cruk" />  From 1986 to 2005 he was the first Director of Cancer Research UK's [[London Research Institute#Clare Hall laboratories|Clare Hall Laboratories]] in [[Hertfordshire]], since 2015 part of the [[Francis Crick Institute]].<ref>[http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/10/07/4-ways-that-tomas-lindahls-nobel-prize-for-chemistry-revolutionised-cancer-research/ "4 ways that Tomas Lindahl’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry revolutionised cancer research"], by Emma Smith, CRUK Science blog, 7 October 2015</ref>  He continued to research there until 2009. He has contributed to many papers on [[DNA repair]] and the genetics of cancer.<ref>{{cite journal
| last1 = Gerken | first1 = T. is
| last2 = Girard | first2 = C. A.
| last3 = Tung | first3 = Y. -C. L.
| last4 = Webby | first4 = C. J.
| last5 = Saudek | first5 = V.
| last6 = Hewitson | first6 = K. S.
| last7 = Yeo | first7 = G. S. H.
| last8 = McDonough | first8 = M. A.
| last9 = Cunliffe | first9 = S.
| last10 = McNeill
| doi = 10.1126/science.1151710 | first10 = L. A.
| last11 = Galvanovskis | first11 = J.
| last12 = Rorsman | first12 = P.
| author-link12 = Patrik Rorsman
| last13 = Robins | first13 = P.
| last14 = Prieur | first14 = X.
| last15 = Coll | first15 = A. P.
| last16 = Ma | first16 = M.
| last17 = Jovanovic | first17 = Z.
| last18 = Farooqi | first18 = I. S. | author-link18 = Sadaf Farooqi
| last19 = Sedgwick | first19 = B.
| last20 = Barroso | first20 = I.
| last21 = Lindahl | first21 = T.
| author-link21 = Tomas Lindahl
| last22 = Ponting | first22 = C. P.
| author-link22 = Chris Ponting
| last23 = Ashcroft | first23 = F. M.
| author-link23 = Frances Ashcroft
| last24 = O'Rahilly | first24 = S.
| author-link24 = Stephen O'Rahilly
| last25 = Schofield | first25 = C. J.
| author-link25 = Christopher J. Schofield
| title = The Obesity-Associated FTO Gene Encodes a 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Nucleic Acid Demethylase
| journal = Science
| volume = 318
| issue = 5855
| pages = 1469–1472
| year = 2008
| pmid =  17991826
| pmc =2668859 | bibcode = 2007Sci...318.1469G
}}</ref><ref name=scopus>{{Scopus|id=7103136259}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/362709a0| title = Instability and decay of the primary structure of DNA| journal = Nature| volume = 362| issue = 6422| pages = 709–15| year = 1993| last1 = Lindahl | first1 = T. | pmid=8469282| bibcode = 1993Natur.362..709L| s2cid = 4283694}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.1056154| title = Human DNA Repair Genes| journal = Science| volume = 291| issue = 5507| pages = 1284–9| year = 2001| last1 = Wood | first1 = R. D. | pmid=11181991| bibcode = 2001Sci...291.1284W| doi-access = }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/356356a0| pmid = 1549180| bibcode = 1992Natur.356..356S| title = Role of poly(ADP-ribose) formation in DNA repair| journal = Nature| volume = 356| issue = 6367| pages = 356–8| year = 1992| last1 = Satoh | first1 = M. S. | last2 = Lindahl | first2 = T. | s2cid = 4364270}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
 | pmid = 12226667
| year = 2002
| last1 = Trewick
| first1 = S. C.
| title = Oxidative demethylation by Escherichia coli AlkB directly reverts DNA base damage
| journal = Nature
| volume = 419
| issue = 6903
| pages = 174–8
| last2 = Henshaw
| first2 = T. F.
| last3 = Hausinger
| first3 = R. P.
| last4 = Lindahl
| first4 = T
| last5 = Sedgwick
| first5 = B
| doi = 10.1038/nature00908
| bibcode = 2002Natur.419..174T
| s2cid = 4324333
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
 | pmid = 15568983
| year = 2004
| last1 = Barnes
| first1 = D. E.
| title = Repair and genetic consequences of endogenous DNA base damage in mammalian cells
| journal = Annual Review of Genetics
| volume = 38
| pages = 445–76
| last2 = Lindahl
| first2 = T
| doi = 10.1146/annurev.genet.38.072902.092448
| doi-access = 
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
 | pmid = 18045533
| year = 2007
| last1 = Yang
| first1 = Y. G.
| title = Trex1 exonuclease degrades ssDNA to prevent chronic checkpoint activation and autoimmune disease
| journal = Cell
| volume = 131
| issue = 5
| pages = 873–86
| last2 = Lindahl
| first2 = T
| last3 = Barnes
| first3 = D. E.
| doi = 10.1016/j.cell.2007.10.017
| s2cid = 2332259
| doi-access = free
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | pmid = 16845398| year = 2006| last1 = Crow| first1 = Y. J.| title = Mutations in the gene encoding the 3'-5' DNA exonuclease TREX1 cause Aicardi-Goutières syndrome at the AGS1 locus| journal = Nature Genetics| volume = 38| issue = 8| pages = 917–20| last2 = Hayward| first2 = B. E.| last3 = Parmar| first3 = R| last4 = Robins| first4 = P| last5 = Leitch| first5 = A| last6 = Ali| first6 = M| last7 = Black| first7 = D. N.| last8 = Van Bokhoven| first8 = H| last9 = Brunner| first9 = H. G.| last10 = Hamel| first10 = B. C.| last11 = Corry| first11 = P. C.| last12 = Cowan| first12 = F. M.| last13 = Frints| first13 = S. G.| last14 = Klepper| first14 = J| last15 = Livingston| first15 = J. H.| last16 = Lynch| first16 = S. A.| last17 = Massey| first17 = R. F.| last18 = Meritet| first18 = J. F.| last19 = Michaud| first19 = J. L.| last20 = Ponsot| first20 = G| last21 = Voit| first21 = T| last22 = Lebon| first22 = P| last23 = Bonthron| first23 = D. T.| last24 = Jackson| first24 = A. P.| last25 = Barnes| first25 = D. E.| last26 = Lindahl| first26 = T| doi = 10.1038/ng1845| s2cid = 9069106}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
Lindahl was elected an [[EMBO Member]] in 1974<ref name=membo/> and [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1988|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1988]],<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922225130/https://royalsociety.org/people/tomas-lindahl-11820/|archive-date=2015-09-22|author=Anon|year=1988|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/tomas-lindahl-11820/|title=Dr Tomas Lindahl FMedSci FRS|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London|website=royalsociety.org}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{blockquote|“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]].” --{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925220834/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |date=September 25, 2015 |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies }}}}</ref> his certificate of election reads: {{centered pull quote|Dr. Tomas Lindahl is noted for his contributions to the comprehension of [[DNA repair]] at the molecular level in bacterial and mammalian cells. He was the first to isolate a mammalian [[DNA ligase]] and to describe a totally unanticipated novel group of [[DNA glycosylase]]s as mediators of DNA excision repair. He has also discovered a unique class of enzymes in mammalian cells, namely the [[methyltransferase]]s, which mediate the adaptive response to [[alkylation]] of DNA and has shown that the expression of these enzymes is regulated by the ada gene. More recently he has elucidated the molecular defect in [[Bloom syndrome|Blooms syndrome]]{{sic}} to be the lack of DNA ligase I. Apart from providing profound insights into the nature of the DNA repair process his very important contributions promise to facilitate the design of more selective chemotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of cancer. Lindahl has also made a number of significant contributions to understanding at the DNA level the mechanism of transformation of [[B cell|B-lymphocytes]] by the [[Epstein–Barr virus|Epstein-Barr virus]]. The most notable of these was the first description of the occurrence in [[Lymphopoiesis|lymphoid cells]] of closed circular duplex viral DNA.<ref name=royal />}}
Lindahl received the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Royal Medal]] in 2007 "making fundamental contributions to our understanding of DNA repair. His achievements stand out for their great originality, breadth and lasting influence."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1750|title=Royal recent winners|access-date=2008-11-10}}</ref> He is a member of the [[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40126|title=Gruppe 6: Cellebiologi og molekylærbiologi|publisher=[[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]]|language=no|access-date=2010-10-07}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Copley Medal]] in 2010. He was elected a founding [[Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences]] (FMedSci) in 1998. In 2018, he was elected a foreign associate of the [[National Academy of Sciences]].

He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015.<ref name=nyt /> The Swedish Academy noted that "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 was awarded jointly to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar 'for mechanistic studies of DNA repair'."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2015/|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015|work=nobelprize.org}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 2015 ''The Intrinsic Fragility of DNA''
{{Copley Medallists 2001–2050}}

{{Francis Crick Institute}}
{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry}}
{{2015 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Swedish Nobel Laureates}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindahl, Tomas}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Karolinska Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:Scientists from Stockholm]]
[[Category:Swedish emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Princeton University staff]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Swedish biologists]]
[[Category:Swedish Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Academics of the Francis Crick Institute]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Helen Hay Whitney Foundation fellows]]