British scientist awarded Nobel Prize for creating GM mice

Sir Martin Evans, professor of mammalian genetics at Cardiff University, described the award as "a boyhood dream come true".

The father of three, who is widely credited with the discovery of stem cells, helped create mice genetically engineered to have human diseases.

Scroll down for more...

The "knock-out" mice, as they are known, have become a cornerstone of biomedicine, from basic research into devastating illnesses to the development of new treatments.

Sir Martin, 66, shares the £755,000 Nobel Prize for medicine with Professor Oliver Smithies, from the University of North Carolina, and Professor Mario Capecchi, from the University of Utah.

Together they made a series of ground-breaking discoveries involving the manipulation and disabling or "knocking out" of mouse genes.

Sir Martin's work centred on the genetic manipulation of stem cells - master cells with the ability to turn into other cell types - while the others worked on altering specific mouse genes.

Combining the two strands of research led to a technique known as gene targeting and the birth of the first "knock-out" mice in the late 1980s.

Using the technique, mice have been bred with medical conditions ranging from cancer to heart disease and cystic fibrosis and used to test the effects of gene therapy.

A statement from the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, which awards the most coveted prizes in science, said: "Gene targeting in mice has pervadedall fields of biomedicine.

"Its impact on the understanding of gene function and its benefits to mankind will continue to increase over many years to come."

Sir Martin, who was knighted in 2003, said: "I'm very pleased that British science is being honoured in this way. It is a boyhood dream come true."

Lord Rees, president of the Royal Society, Britain's leading academic institution, said: "This is a fitting recognition of Sir Martin's groundbreaking research on embryonic stem cells.

"He is a world leader in mammalian genetics and his research has undoubtedly increased our understanding of human diseases."

The award is the first of six Nobel Prizes to be announced this year. The others are for chemistry, physics, literature, peace and economics.