Yury Verlinsky
Yury Verlinsky | |
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chorionic villus); genetic diagnosis techniques; | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Medical research, embryology and cytogenetics |
Institutions | Reproductive Genetics Institute |
Yury Verlinsky (1 September 1943 – 16 July 2009) was a
With the help of his research, PGD can be used to prevent more than 200 different genetic disorders and diseases.
Early years and education
Verlinsky was born in
Emigrating to the United States
After graduating with his Ph.D., he submitted research proposals which were all rejected by government committees. He chose to emigrate to the United States when the Soviet government continued to refuse his requests to fund further research into PGD, a field in which he was an early practitioner. This became difficult as he was forced to pay back the cost of his education before receiving his exit visa ("diploma tax"), which required that he borrow money from friends. He eventually left for the United States with his wife, their nine-year-old son, and just "two suitcases."[2]: 265 He arrived in 1979, one of the many thousands of other Soviet Jews that were allowed to leave that same year, including a young Sergey Brin, who later co-founded Google, Inc.
Genetics researcher
Soon after arriving, he was offered a research position with the
One such friend and colleague that he lost contact with was Anver Kuliev, with whom he had done research when he was still in Moscow. They had worked together developing a prenatal test that could be administered earlier than amniocentesis, with the goal of allowing a woman to avoid a second-trimester abortion. Years later, after Verlinsky had settled in the U.S., he was in London for a scientific meeting and discovered that Kuliev was working in the Soviet Union as head of genetics for the World Health Organization (WHO). Verlinsky contacted him, they met in Geneva in 1982, and soon after they began working together, again doing embryonic and genetic research. Kuriev would later become director of the Reproductive Genetics Institute that Verlinsky established in 1990.[2]
Verlinsky was an expert in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, which is the
His diagnostic techniques have become widely accepted and are routinely used by prospective parents, especially couples with a history of genetic abnormalities or where the woman is over the age of 35, when the risk of genetically related disorders is higher. As the tests could be performed up to six weeks earlier than amniocentesis, which uses a technique called chorionic villus sampling, the prospective parents were often more comfortable considering an abortion if any major abnormalities or risk factors were discovered. In addition, by allowing parents to select an embryo without known genetic disorders, they also had the potential of saving the lives of siblings that already had similar disorders and diseases.[4]
Establishing a clinic
In 1990, he established the private Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago to provide prenatal testing. According to his colleague, Dr. Norman Ginsberg, he was "a hard-working scientist, . . . . the first in the lab in the morning and the last out at night." Profits from his work were plowed back into research. "Rather than just make himself rich, he used this money to do a whole range of testing," Ginsberg added.[4]
Utilizing "polar bodies"
Verlinsky developed his ideas for genetic screening before doing in-vitro fertilization, he says, "while viewing a 1935 Joan Miró painting in a Jerusalem art gallery." He observed that the painting showed "two disks, one red and one yellow, floating in space, with a small, round black object under the red one." The disks reminded him of human eggs, with one changing into the other by ejecting the black object. "In a flash of insight," he took out a business card and wrote "polar bodies" on the back of it.[3]
A
In 2000, his technique became notable when it helped the parents of Molly Nash, a child who suffered from life-threatening Fanconi anemia, conceive a son without the disease and whose cells were later used to save Molly's life. In 2002, his method also helped a mother, whose genetic diagnosis showed a likelihood of getting Alzheimer's disease, conceive a daughter who was free of the gene.[5] The case was declared a "medical milestone" as the first use of genetic testing to prevent an early onset form of Alzheimer's disease.[1]
Significance of research
As a result of Verlinsky's
Death
Verlinsky died in
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Yury Verlinsky, Expert in Embryonic Screening, Is Dead at 65" New York Times, July 22, 2009
- ^ a b c d Gessen, Masha. Blood Matters, Harcourt, 2008
- ^ a b c "Yury Verlinsky dies at 65; pioneered genetic testing method" Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2009
- ^ a b "Dr. Yury Verlinsky, 1943–2009: Expert in reproductive technology" Chicago Tribune, July 20, 2009
- ^ a b "PBS NewsHour Interview with Dr. Yury Verlinsky", August 9, 2004
Other sources
- Verlinsky, Yury, and Kuliev, Anver. Textbook of Assisted Reproductive Techniques, "Clinical Application of Polar Body Biopsy", Chapter 31, Informa Healthcare (2004)
- Verlinsky, Yury, and Kuliev, Anver. Textbook of In-vitro Fertilization and Assisted Reproduction, "Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and its Rold in Assisted Reproduction Technology", Bourn Hall Clinic, 2005
- Kuliev A, and Verlinsky Y. "Preimplantation genetic diagnosis: technological advances to improve accuracy and range of applications", Reproductive Genetics Institute, 2825 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL., April 16, 2008
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