Department of Human Genetics

A Letter from the Chair

Sally Camper

Human genetics is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing fields in the biomedical sciences. The availability of the genome sequence has revolutionized our ability to discover the molecular basis for human genetic disease. This is truly an exciting time to be a part of the human genetics community. Dr. James V. Neel established this as the first department of human genetics in the United States in 1956. Neel contributed to many areas of genetics. He deduced the mode of inheritance of sickle cell anemia, determined the mutagenic potential of radiation exposure following the atomic bombing of Japan, and propelled population genetic research forward by collecting samples from isolated tribes in South America. The research of current faculty also covers a broad range of areas, including population and statistical genetics, genomic instability, the genetic epidemiology of common diseases, genomics, the isolation and characterization of disease-causing mutations in humans and mice, gene therapy, regulation of gene expression, mammalian developmental genetics, and cancer genetics. Graduate students have the opportunity to carry out interdisciplinary genetics research in these diverse areas. The impact of our Department's research is recognized widely, and this is a testament to the excellence of our graduate students and the importance of their accomplishments.

Our graduate students come from across the country and the world. We currently have 24 students pursuing Ph.D. degrees and 12 students pursuing Master's degrees in Genetic Counseling. Our students are very successful in competing for research fellowships and prestigious awards. Many of our former graduates hold academic research positions and are prominent leaders in genetics research. Graduate students have access to an impressive array of research and training resources. The University of Michigan core facilities are extensive and include DNA sequencing, genotyping, generation of genetically engineered mouse models of human disease, microscopy and image analysis, microarray analysis, proteomics, and protein and carbohydrate analysis. These shared resources facilitate research progress.

Our Department has a distinguished tradition of accomplishments in genetics. I am confident that contributions of current and future graduate students will continue this tradition. I invite you to explore our web site to learn more about our faculty, students, fellows and staff, and about our research and training programs. I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to Ann Arbor.

Sincerely,
campersignature
Sally Camper

Department Newsletters

 
   






A Timeline of Significant Department Events

1952
James Neel creates the Heredity Clinic at the University of Michigan Medical School from which the nation’s first Department of Human Genetics is established in 1956.
1964
Myron Levine and Hamilton Smith characterize genes that regulate how bacterial viruses integrate their DNA into the bacterial chromosome.
1979
Diane Baker establishes the Master's Degree program in Genetic Counseling at the University of Michigan Medical School.
1988
Principles of Medical Genetics, the first textbook to include advances in molecular genetics, is published. Written by Thomas Gelehrter, Francis Collins, and David Ginsburg, it has sold more than 60,000 copies and has been translated into six languages.
1989
Francis Collins and L-C Tsui discover the gene for Cystic Fibrosis - the first successful use of positional cloning to identify a disease-causing gene and a discovery likened to finding a needle in a haystack.
1993
Andrew Feinberg shows that loss of imprinted genes is linked to the development of human tumors.
1993
Jeffrey Chamberlain uses gene therapy to cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in mice with a genetically engineered dystrophin gene.
1997
Zinc therapy developed by George Brewer is approved by the FDA for treatment of patients with Wilson's disease.
1998
David Burke and researchers at the University of Michigan College of Engineering create a miniature Genetics Lab on a Microchip to analyze DNA samples.
1999
David Ginsburg discovers a modifier gene in mice that increases the severity of Von Willebrand's Disease, the most common inherited human bleeding disorder.
2002
John Moran finds that "Junk DNA" can alter the human genome by knocking out genes or repairing damaged DNA.
2002
Thomas Glover discovers that DNA damage response proteins regulate the stability of fragile sites on chromosomes.
2003
Miriam Meisler identifies a modifier gene that alters the severity of inherited neurological disorders in mice.
2005
Noah Rosenberg analyzes genetic differences in DNA from native populations around the world to track the path of human migration out of Africa.

History of Genetics at Michigan

James V. Neel, M.D.James Van Gundia Neel, M.D., Ph.D., was a pioneer in the study of human genetics and one of the first to foresee its importance in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. During his 39-year career in the U-M Medical School, Neel established one of the first clinics to evaluate and counsel people with hereditary diseases, as well as the first academic department of human genetics in the United States. He died Feb. 1, 2000 at age 84.

Neel was the first scientist to recognize the genetic basis for sickle cell anemia. He conducted an extensive study on the aftereffects of atomic radiation on survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their children. During the 1960s, he proposed the "thrifty gene" hypothesis, which states that genes associated with common modern diseases like diabetes, hypertension and obesity are part of the human gene pool, because they helped our early ancestors survive when calories and salt were less abundant. Neel also was widely known for his studies of the genetic consequences of consanguineous marriage, the timing of human migration into North America and the genetic characteristics of isolated tribes in the Amazon rain forest.

Neel joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1946 as an assistant geneticist in the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology. From late 1946 to 1947, he served in the Army Medical Corps and directed field studies for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission of the National Research Council. In 1948, he returned to the Univeristy of Michigan to direct the Institute of Human Biology's Heredity Clinic. Neel established the University of Michigan Medical School's Department of Human Genetics in 1956, which he chaired for 25 years. He was named the Lee R. Dice University Professor of Human Genetics in 1966 – a position he held until his retirement on June 30, 1985.