Baylor Research Achievements

Baylor College of Medicine researchers have been at the forefront of many of the major advances in biomedical sciences over the last century. They:

• Opened the first center for the treatment of polio in the United States
• Developed the first successful implement to straighten the spines of patients with scoliosis
• Pioneered the field of molecular endocrinology with seminal work on steroid hormone action and the discovery of steroid receptor coactivators, master regulatory cells in the body
• Determined the sequences of chromosomes 3, 12 and part of X as part of their role as one of three centers to complete the Human Genome Project
• Led sequencing of many animal genomes, including the mouse, rat, fruit fly, rhesus monkey, honey bee, sea urchin, marmoset, orangutan, and cow
• Discovered the cytoplasmic microtubule complex in eukaryotic cells, a finding that led to use of a new class of cancer drugs including taxol
• Proved using isoniaizid long-term can prevent TB in children with latent infection
• Invented the Dacron graft
• Found that an enterotoxin is responsible for diarrhea commonly caused in children by rotavirus
• Described the first case of uniparental disomy, in which a child receives both copies of a gene from one parent
• Pioneered gene chip technology that streamlines diagnosis of genetic and chromosomal diseases
• Discovered the gene that causes Rett syndrome, a post natal genetic disorder that affects mainly girls
• Identified new mutations in a cartilage protein that results in a lethal form of the brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfect
• Sequenced and annotated the first personalized genome sequence, that of Dr. James Watson, Nobel laureate who described DNA’s double helix
• Developed a translational technique to train T-cells to kill cancers associated with Epstein-Barr virus
• Pioneered the study of eating disorders
• Conducted first successful surgery on the human genome
• Elucidated the protein interaction network or interactome for autism spectrum disorder
• Developed a new therapy to prevent viral infections after stem cell transplant