| 1 | Name: | Dr. Baldomero M. Olivera | |
| Institution: | University of Utah | ||
| Year Elected: | 2007 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1941 | ||
Baldomero (Toto) Olivera was born in Manila, studied chemistry at the University of the Philippines, and received his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1966 working with Norman Davidson on the Biophysical Chemistry of DNA. As a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University with I. R. Lehman, Olivera discovered and characterized E. coli DNA ligase, a key enzyme of replication and recombinant DNA technology. He returned to the Philippines in 1969, where he began to investigate pharmacologically-active peptides ("conotoxins") from the venoms of the predatory cone snails (Conus). Due to the unsettled political situation, he left the Philippines for the University of Utah in 1972 where he is now Distinguished Professor of Biology. There are ~100,000 different conotoxins; these have proven to be important tools for understanding ion channel and receptor function in nervous systems. Several conotoxins discovered in Olivera's lab have therapeutic applications, particularly for alleviating pain; one is an approved drug. Olivera's studies on cone snails have led to his present focus on the molecular and chemical basis of biodiversity. | |||