Tomas Lindahl

Tomas Robert Lindahl (born 28 January 1938) is a

Swedish-British scientist specialising in cancer Tomas Lindahl
FRS FMedSci
research.[7] In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry[8] jointly with American chemist Paul L.
Modrich and Turkish chemist Aziz Sancar for
mechanistic studies of DNA repair.[9][10][11]

Education
Lindahl was born in Kungsholmen, Stockholm,
Sweden to Folke Robert Lindahl and Ethel Hulda
Hultberg.[12] He received a PhD degree in 1967,[13]
and an MD degree qualification in 1970, from the
Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.[6]
Lindahl in 2015
Born Tomas Robert Lindahl
Career and research 28 January 1938[6]
Stockholm, Sweden
After obtaining his research doctorate, Lindahl did Nationality Swedish, naturalised British
postdoctoral research at Princeton University and (dual nationality)
Rockefeller University.[14] He was professor of
Alma mater Karolinska Institutet (PhD)
medical chemistry at the University of Gothenburg
1978–82. After moving to the United Kingdom he Known for Clarification of cellular resistance
joined the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now to carcinogens
Cancer Research UK) as a researcher in 1981.[14] From Awards EMBO Membership (1974)[1]
1986 to 2005 he was the first Director of Cancer
FRS (1988)[2][3]
Research UK's Clare Hall Laboratories in
FMedSci (1998)[4]
Hertfordshire, since 2015 part of the Francis Crick
Institute.[15] He continued to research there until 2009. Royal Medal (2007)
He has contributed to many papers on DNA repair and Copley Medal (2010)
the genetics of cancer.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2015)
Scientific career
Fields
Awards and honours Cancer research
DNA repair[5]
Lindahl was elected an EMBO Member in 1974[1] and Institutions Francis Crick Institute
Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1988,[3] his
London Research Institute
certificate of election reads:
University of Gothenburg
Princeton University
 Dr. Tomas Lindahl is noted for his Rockefeller University
contributions to the comprehension of DNA Thesis On the structure and stability of
repair at the molecular level in bacterial and nucleic acids in solution (http://libr
mammalian cells. He was the first to isolate a is.kb.se/bib/1308970) (1967)
mammalian DNA ligase and to describe a
Website crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-
totally unanticipated novel group of DNA
researchers/emeritus-scientists
glycosylases as mediators of DNA excision
/tomas-lindahl/ (http://crick.ac.uk/r
repair. He has also discovered a unique class
esearch/a-z-researchers/emeritus
of enzymes in mammalian cells, namely the
-scientists/tomas-lindahl/)
methyltransferases, 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 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-
lymphocytes by the Epstein-Barr virus. The
most notable of these was the first
description of the occurrence in lymphoid
cells of closed circular duplex viral DNA.[2]

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."[25] He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[26] 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.[9] 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'."[27]

References
1. "Tomas Lindahl EMBO profile" (http://people.embo.org/profile/tomas-lindahl).
people.embo.org. Heidelberg: European Molecular Biology Organization.
 2. "Lindahl, Tomas Robert: EC/1988/20" (https://web.archive.org/web/20190710061326/https://
collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalo
g&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC/1988/20%27)). London: The Royal
Society. Archived from the original (https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=D
serve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27
EC%2F1988%2F20%27)) on 10 July 2019.
3. Anon (1988). "Dr Tomas Lindahl FMedSci FRS" (https://web.archive.org/web/201509222251
30/https://royalsociety.org/people/tomas-lindahl-11820/). royalsociety.org. London: Royal
Society. Archived from the original (https://royalsociety.org/people/tomas-lindahl-11820/) on
22 September 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the
royalsociety.org website where:

“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is
available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --Royal
Society Terms, conditions and policies (https://web.archive.org/web/201509252208
34/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/) at the Wayback
Machine (archived September 25, 2015)

4. "Dr Tomas Lindahl FRS FMedSci" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151008205352/http://ww

w.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/dr-tomas-lindahl/). London:
Academy of Medical Sciences. Archived from the original (http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellow
s/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/dr-tomas-lindahl/) on 8 October 2015.
5. Lindahl, Tomas (2013). "My Journey to DNA Repair" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl
es/PMC4357663). Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics. 11 (1): 2–7.
doi:10.1016/j.gpb.2012.12.001 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.gpb.2012.12.001). ISSN 1672-
0229 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1672-0229). PMC 4357663 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pmc/articles/PMC4357663). PMID 23453014 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2345301
4).
6. "LINDAHL, Tomas Robert" (https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U245
80). Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription
or UK public library membership (https://www.ukwhoswho.com/page/subscribe#public) required.)
7. "Emeritus Scientist – Tomas Lindahl" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151201194741/http://cr
ick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/tomas-lindahl/). The Crick. Archived
from the original (http://crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/tomas-linda
hl/) on 1 December 2015.
8. Tomas Lindahl – Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 (https://vimeo.com/63309327) on Vimeo
9. Broad, William J. (7 October 2015). "Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Tomas Lindahl,
Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for DNA Studies" (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/scien
ce/tomas-lindahl-paul-modrich-aziz-sancarn-nobel-chemistry.html). The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 7 October 2015.
10. Staff (7 October 2015). "THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY 2015 – DNA repair – providing
chemical stability for life" (https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/201
5/popular-chemistryprize2015.pdf) (PDF). Nobel Prize. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
11. Cressey, Daniel (2015). "DNA repair sleuths win chemistry Nobel: Tomas Lindahl, Paul
Modrich and Aziz Sancar share 2015 prize" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature.2015.18515).
Nature. 526 (7573): 307–8. doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18515 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnatu
re.2015.18515). ISSN 1476-4687 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1476-4687).
PMID 26469021 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26469021).
12. Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860–1941
13. Lindahl, Tomas (1967). On the structure and stability of nucleic acids in solution (http://libris.
kb.se/bib/1308970). Stockholm.
14. "Cancer Research UK Grants & Research – Tomas Lindahl" (http://science.cancerresearchu
k.org/research/loc/london/lifch/lindahlt/). Retrieved 10 November 2008.
15. "4 ways that Tomas Lindahl’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry revolutionised cancer research" (htt
p://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/10/07/4-ways-that-tomas-lindahls-nobel-prize-fo
r-chemistry-revolutionised-cancer-research/), by Emma Smith, CRUK Science blog, 7
October 2015
16. Gerken, T. is; Girard, C. A.; Tung, Y. -C. L.; Webby, C. J.; Saudek, V.; Hewitson, K. S.; Yeo,
G. S. H.; McDonough, M. A.; Cunliffe, S.; McNeill, L. A.; Galvanovskis, J.; Rorsman, P.;
Robins, P.; Prieur, X.; Coll, A. P.; Ma, M.; Jovanovic, Z.; Farooqi, I. S.; Sedgwick, B.;
Barroso, I.; Lindahl, T.; Ponting, C. P.; Ashcroft, F. M.; O'Rahilly, S.; Schofield, C. J. (2008).
"The Obesity-Associated FTO Gene Encodes a 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Nucleic Acid
Demethylase" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668859). Science. 318
(5855): 1469–1472. Bibcode:2007Sci...318.1469G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007
Sci...318.1469G). doi:10.1126/science.1151710 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.115171
0). PMC 2668859 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668859).
PMID 17991826 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17991826).
17. Tomas Lindahl's publications (https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=71031362
59) indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
18. Lindahl, T. (1993). "Instability and decay of the primary structure of DNA". Nature. 362
(6422): 709–15. Bibcode:1993Natur.362..709L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993Natu
r.362..709L). doi:10.1038/362709a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F362709a0). PMID 8469282
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8469282). S2CID 4283694 (https://api.semanticscholar.or
g/CorpusID:4283694).
19. Wood, R. D. (2001). "Human DNA Repair Genes". Science. 291 (5507): 1284–9.
Bibcode:2001Sci...291.1284W (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...291.1284W).
doi:10.1126/science.1056154 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1056154).
PMID 11181991 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11181991).
20. Satoh, M. S.; Lindahl, T. (1992). "Role of poly(ADP-ribose) formation in DNA repair". Nature.
356 (6367): 356–8. Bibcode:1992Natur.356..356S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992N
atur.356..356S). doi:10.1038/356356a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F356356a0).
PMID 1549180 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1549180). S2CID 4364270 (https://api.sem
anticscholar.org/CorpusID:4364270).
21. Trewick, S. C.; Henshaw, T. F.; Hausinger, R. P.; Lindahl, T; Sedgwick, B (2002). "Oxidative
demethylation by Escherichia coli AlkB directly reverts DNA base damage". Nature. 419
(6903): 174–8. Bibcode:2002Natur.419..174T (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Natur.
419..174T). doi:10.1038/nature00908 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature00908).
PMID 12226667 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12226667). S2CID 4324333 (https://api.s
emanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4324333).
22. Barnes, D. E.; Lindahl, T (2004). "Repair and genetic consequences of endogenous DNA
base damage in mammalian cells". Annual Review of Genetics. 38: 445–76.
doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.38.072902.092448 (https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.genet.3
8.072902.092448). PMID 15568983 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15568983).
23. Yang, Y. G.; Lindahl, T; Barnes, D. E. (2007). "Trex1 exonuclease degrades ssDNA to
prevent chronic checkpoint activation and autoimmune disease" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F
j.cell.2007.10.017). Cell. 131 (5): 873–86. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2007.10.017 (https://doi.org/10.
1016%2Fj.cell.2007.10.017). PMID 18045533 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18045533).
S2CID 2332259 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:2332259).
24. Crow, Y. J.; Hayward, B. E.; Parmar, R; Robins, P; Leitch, A; Ali, M; Black, D. N.; Van
Bokhoven, H; Brunner, H. G.; Hamel, B. C.; Corry, P. C.; Cowan, F. M.; Frints, S. G.;
Klepper, J; Livingston, J. H.; Lynch, S. A.; Massey, R. F.; Meritet, J. F.; Michaud, J. L.;
Ponsot, G; Voit, T; Lebon, P; Bonthron, D. T.; Jackson, A. P.; Barnes, D. E.; Lindahl, T
(2006). "Mutations in the gene encoding the 3'-5' DNA exonuclease TREX1 cause Aicardi-
Goutières syndrome at the AGS1 locus". Nature Genetics. 38 (8): 917–20.
doi:10.1038/ng1845 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fng1845). PMID 16845398 (https://pubmed.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16845398). S2CID 9069106 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:906
9106).
25. "Royal recent winners" (http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1750). Retrieved 10 November
2008.
26. "Gruppe 6: Cellebiologi og molekylærbiologi" (http://www.dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?ti
d=40126) (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved 7 October
2010.
27. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015" (https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/lau
reates/2015/). nobelprize.org.

External links
Tomas Lindahl (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/921) on Nobelprize.org including the
Nobel Lecture 8 December 2015 The Intrinsic Fragility of DNA

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