Mary-Claire King. Never heard of her. And why would you have, in the world we live in – but lemme tell you, if you know anyone who has had breast or ovarian cancer or if you have had breast or ovarian cancer yourself, you should know who Ms. King is. She is a she-ro. And not just for her work with those diseases. Read on…
In the ugly 1970s, Dr. Mary-Claire (it’s a Phd. but who cares, right? wait for it…) had a thought that perhaps certain forms and types of cancer were inheritable, particularly breast and ovarian cancers in women. She was, however, a woman herself, as well as not being a medical doctor, thus her insights and ideas were dismissed as nonsensical. Regardless, King spent 17 years researching those diseases in families while tracing their genetics, ultimately identifying the BRCA1 gene, definitively linking it to inherited breast and ovarian cancers. Her discovery transformed how we (well, they) detect, diagnose, and prevent cancer—saving lives through genetic testing and early detection.
But that’s not all. King is a life-long activist who once worked for Ralph Nader, and as a part of her work in genetics, she fought for justice by reuniting families in Argentina with their kidnapped children using DNA.
King has also worked with numerous human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, identifying missing people in countries including Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Rwanda, the Balkans (Croatia and Serbia), and the Philippines. King’s lab has also provided DNA identification for the U.S. Army, and the United Nations.
Other diseases she has worked on using genetics: inherited deafness, schizophrenia, HIV, systemic lupus erythematous, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Among the many awards she has been given, she was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2014, and the Mendel Prize in 2018 (remember Mendel’s peas!?! I sure do!). In 2002, she was named one of the 50 most important women in science by Discovery Magazine. King is also considered one of 5 women who have yet to be but are 100% deserving of being awarded the Nobel Prize in Science; at 79, um, let’s get on that, y’all. Here is her website, which is dauntingly smart – in content, not appearance – is linked here: https://www.gs.washington.edu/faculty/king.htm
Her wiki reads like the most accomplished person, ever (make sure your self-esteem is in place); here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary-Claire_King
Thank you, Dr. King.