George M. Martin
BornJune 30, 1927
New York, New York, United States
Died (aged 95)
Seattle, Washington, United States
Alma materUniversity of Washington (BS , 1949)
University of Washington School of Medicine (MD, 1952)
Scientific career
FieldsGerentology
InstitutionsUniversity of Washington

George M. Martin (June 30, 1927 – December 17, 2022) was an American biogerontologist. He was a faculty member at the University of Washington from 1957 until the end of his career. Martin was a professor emeritus in the Department of Pathology, adjunct professor of genome sciences, and director emeritus of the University of Washington's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.[1][2]

Martin is best known as one of the founders of modern biogerontology.[3]

Biography

Martin was born in New York City, the son of a police officer.[4] Martin attended less than a year at the Cooper Union School of Engineering, and one year at the College of the City of New York before serving in the US Navy from 1945 to 1946.[3][5] He moved to Alaska at age 19, and held various jobs including playing trumpet in a jazz band and working for a railroad company.[3] After two years at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Martin completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Washington in 1949 before completing his medical doctorate from the same institution in 1952.[3][4][5] He subsequently completed his internship at the Montreal General Hospital, followed by a residency in anatomic pathology at the University of Chicago. In 1957, Martin accepted a faculty position at the University of Washington in the Department of Pathology,[6] where he founded the Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory.[3] Martin became the founding director of the University of Washington Medical Scientist Training Program in 1970.[3][7][2]

Martin served as the Scientific Director of the American Federation for Aging Research and as president of the Tissue Culture Association and the Gerontological Society of America. He served as a scientific editor and served on editorial boards of many scholarly journals, including Science, Age and Ageing, Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, Aging Cell, Ageing Research Reviews, Geriatrics and Gerontology International and Alzheimer's Disease Review. Martin was also the chairman of the scientific advisory board for The Ellison Biomedical Foundation.

Career

Martin's early work focused on the neurobiology of Wilson's disease and the function of caeruloplasmin, the underlying gene responsible for this disorder.[8][9] This work served as a catalyst for Martin to learn about genetics, as supported by Arno Motulsky, founder of the University of Washington department of Medical Genetics.[6] Martin also contributed to early work surrounding the techniques and use of human cell culture,[10][11] including describing donor covariates that contributed to replicative limits in culture.[12]

Martin's major research focus involved using genetic approaches to elucidate the pathobiology of aging and age-related diseases. Martin's work provided important insights into multiple topics in the field of geroscience. His group conducted genetic linking studies identifying loci associated with familial forms of Alzheimer's disease,[13][14] a discovery that led to the recognition of amyloid beta (Aβ) in the pathology of that disorder.[15][3] Martin's group separately identified the genetic defect causing the aging disease Werner syndrome,[16][17] and its underlying contributory mechanisms to the disorder.[18][19] His studies provided the first evidence that epithelial cells from arteries, especially from parts that develop severe atherosclerosis, have limited potential to divide.[20][21] He and colleagues demonstrated that senescent cells cannot be returned to a replicative state when their cytoplasm is combined with cytoplasm from normal, young cells.[22][23] Martin's laboratory was the first to demonstrate the accumulation of somatic mutations in human epithelial cells during the aging process.[24] His later research used genetic engineering in mice to elucidate mechanisms of aging and Alzheimer's disease.[25]

Martin was not as well known as a futurist, but some of Martin's ideas predate predictions of better known futurists such as Ray Kurzweil and Vernor Vinge, and are similar to those eventually championed in the field. In 1971,[26] for example, Martin described a process for achieving a condition equatable to immortality using a scientific process now termed mind uploading:

The ultimate solution [for immortality] is pure science fiction. In fact, the rationale for implementing the interim solution is largely based upon two articles of faith. The first is the perfectly reasonable proposition that science will continue to grow – if not at its present exponential rate, at least linearly. The second, requiring a good deal more optimism, is the belief that Homo sapiens, during this critical phase of his natural history, will not destroy himself and his planet. We shall assume that developments in neurobiology, bioengineering and related disciplines… will ultimately provide suitable techniques of 'read-out' of the stored information from cryobiologically preserved brains into nth generation computers capable of vastly outdoing the dynamic patterning of operation of our cerebral neurones. We would then join a family of humanoid 'post-somatic' bio-electrical hybrids capable of contributing to cultural evolution at rates far exceeding anything now imaginable.

Honors

Source:[5]

  • Sigma Xi
  • Eleanor Roosevelt International Cancer Research Fellow, 1968-1969
  • Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Faculty Scholar Award, 1978-1979
  • Alpha Omega Alpha, 1980
  • Gerontological Society of America Brookdale award, 1980
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1982
  • University of Washington School of Medicine Outstanding Alumnus Award, 1987[27]
  • National Institutes of Health Merit Award, 1989
  • Allied Signal Achievement Award in Aging, 1990
  • National Academy of Medicine,[4] 1992
  • American Aging Association Research Medal, 1992
  • Gerontological Society of America Donald B. Kent award, 1993[28]
  • American Federation for Aging Research Irving S. Wright award, 1996[27]
  • Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International, 1998
  • Paul Glenn Foundation Award, 1998
  • Distinguished Scientist Award, University of Urbino Faculty of Sciences, 1998
  • World Alzheimer Congress Lifetime Achievement Award, 2000[29]
  • Fondation IPSEN Longevity prize, 2002[30]
  • American Aging Association Distinguished Scientist Award, 2004
  • Shober Prize, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 2005
  • Trustee Emeritus, Buck Institute for Age Research, 2006
  • Honorary Alumnus (NIMH-sponsored Summer Research Institute in Geriatric Psychiatry), 2008
  • Dart/New York University Biotechnology Achievement Award, 2011
  • SENECA Medal for Research into Aging, Industrial Club of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2011
  • Inaugural Science Award of the Buck Institute for Research in Aging, 2011

References

  1. ↑ Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Washington
  2. 1 2 "Happy 90th Birthday to Dr. George Martin - Memory and Brain Wellness Center". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rabinovitch, Peter S; Disteche, Christine; Kaeberlein, Matt; Martin, Kelsey C; Monnat, Raymond J; Oshima, Junko; Promislow, Daniel (2023-01-04). "In Memory of George M. Martin". The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. 78 (4): 619–620. doi:10.1093/gerona/glac257. ISSN 1079-5006. PMID 36609876.
  4. 1 2 3 Austad, Steven N. (2023-06-01). "George M. Martin: tribute and personal remembrance". GeroScience. 45 (3): 2085–2086. doi:10.1007/s11357-023-00747-z. ISSN 2509-2723. PMC 10400482. PMID 36745353.
  5. 1 2 3 Martin, George (2019-04-08). "George M. Martin, M.D. Curriculum Vita" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  6. 1 2 "An Interview with the ADRC's Founding Director - Memory and Brain Wellness Center". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  7. ↑ "UW MSTP History | Medical Scientist Training Program". Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  8. ↑ McALISTER, R.; Martin, G. M.; Benditt, E. P. (June 1961). "Evidence for Multiple Cæruloplasmin Components in Human Serum". Nature. 190 (4779): 927–929. Bibcode:1961Natur.190..927M. doi:10.1038/190927b0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 13773713. S2CID 4251125.
  9. ↑ Martin, G. M.; Derr, M. A.; Benditt, E. P. (March 1964). "Ceruloplasmins of Several Animal Species. Comparison of Electrophoretic Mobilities and Substrate Specificity". Laboratory Investigation; A Journal of Technical Methods and Pathology. 13: 282–287. ISSN 0023-6837. PMID 14127032.
  10. ↑ Martin, G. M.; Tuan, A. (October 1966). "A definitive cloning technique for human fibroblast cultures". Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 123 (1): 138–140. doi:10.3181/00379727-123-31423. ISSN 0037-9727. PMID 5924411. S2CID 34390842.
  11. ↑ Martin, G. M.; Sprague, C.; Bryant, J. S. (1967-05-06). "Mitotic nondisjunction in cultivated human cells". Nature. 214 (5088): 612–613. Bibcode:1967Natur.214..612M. doi:10.1038/214612a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 4226946. S2CID 4155643.
  12. ↑ Martin, G. M.; Sprague, C. A.; Epstein, C. J. (July 1970). "Replicative life-span of cultivated human cells. Effects of donor's age, tissue, and genotype". Laboratory Investigation; A Journal of Technical Methods and Pathology. 23 (1): 86–92. ISSN 0023-6837. PMID 5431223.
  13. ↑ Schellenberg, G. D.; Bird, T. D.; Wijsman, E. M.; Orr, H. T.; Anderson, L.; Nemens, E.; White, J. A.; Bonnycastle, L.; Weber, J. L.; Alonso, M. E. (1992-10-23). "Genetic linkage evidence for a familial Alzheimer's disease locus on chromosome 14". Science. 258 (5082): 668–671. Bibcode:1992Sci...258..668S. doi:10.1126/science.1411576. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 1411576.
  14. ↑ Schellenberg GD, Deeb SS, Boehnke M, et al. (April 1987). "Association of an apolipoprotein CII allele with familial dementia of the Alzheimer type". Journal of Neurogenetics. 4 (2–3): 97–108. doi:10.3109/01677068709102337. PMID 2885403.
  15. ↑ Guo, Q.; Furukawa, K.; Sopher, B. L.; Pham, D. G.; Xie, J.; Robinson, N.; Martin, G. M.; Mattson, M. P. (1996-12-20). "Alzheimer's PS-1 mutation perturbs calcium homeostasis and sensitizes PC12 cells to death induced by amyloid beta-peptide". NeuroReport. 8 (1): 379–383. doi:10.1097/00001756-199612200-00074. ISSN 0959-4965. PMID 9051814. S2CID 11404496.
  16. ↑ Oshima J, Yu CE, Boehnke M, et al. (September 1994). "Integrated mapping analysis of the Werner syndrome region of chromosome 8" (PDF). Genomics. 23 (1): 100–13. doi:10.1006/geno.1994.1464. hdl:2027.42/31345. PMID 7829057.
  17. ↑ Yu, C. E.; Oshima, J.; Fu, Y. H.; Wijsman, E. M.; Hisama, F.; Alisch, R.; Matthews, S.; Nakura, J.; Miki, T.; Ouais, S.; Martin, G. M.; Mulligan, J.; Schellenberg, G. D. (1996-04-12). "Positional cloning of the Werner's syndrome gene". Science. 272 (5259): 258–262. Bibcode:1996Sci...272..258Y. doi:10.1126/science.272.5259.258. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 8602509. S2CID 18172607.
  18. ↑ Gray, M. D.; Shen, J. C.; Kamath-Loeb, A. S.; Blank, A.; Sopher, B. L.; Martin, G. M.; Oshima, J.; Loeb, L. A. (September 1997). "The Werner syndrome protein is a DNA helicase". Nature Genetics. 17 (1): 100–103. doi:10.1038/ng0997-100. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 9288107. S2CID 20587915.
  19. ↑ Balajee, A. S.; Machwe, A.; May, A.; Gray, M. D.; Oshima, J.; Martin, G. M.; Nehlin, J. O.; Brosh, R.; Orren, D. K.; Bohr, V. A. (August 1999). "The Werner syndrome protein is involved in RNA polymerase II transcription". Molecular Biology of the Cell. 10 (8): 2655–2668. doi:10.1091/mbc.10.8.2655. ISSN 1059-1524. PMC 25497. PMID 10436020.
  20. ↑ Martin, G. M.; Sprague, C. A. (1972-12-23). "Clonal senescence and atherosclerosis". Lancet. 2 (7791): 1370–1371. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(72)92819-x. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 4118240.
  21. ↑ Martin, G.; Ogburn, C.; Sprague, C. (1975). "Senescence and Vascular Disease". Explorations in Aging. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Vol. 61. pp. 163–193. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-9032-3_9. ISBN 978-1-4615-9034-7. ISSN 0065-2598. PMID 810006.
  22. ↑ Hoehn, H.; Bryant, E. M.; Johnston, P.; Norwood, T. H.; Martin, G. M. (1975-12-18). "Non-selective isolation, stability and longevity of hybrids between normal human somatic cells". Nature. 258 (5536): 608–610. Bibcode:1975Natur.258..608H. doi:10.1038/258608a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 1207734. S2CID 11467452.
  23. ↑ Norwood, T. H.; Pendergrass, W. R.; Sprague, C. A.; Martin, G. M. (June 1974). "Dominance of the senescent phenotype in heterokaryons between replicative and post-replicative human fibroblast-like cells". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 71 (6): 2231–2235. Bibcode:1974PNAS...71.2231N. doi:10.1073/pnas.71.6.2231. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 388425. PMID 4366757.
  24. ↑ Martin, G. M.; Ogburn, C. E.; Colgin, L. M.; Gown, A. M.; Edland, S. D.; Monnat, R. J. (February 1996). "Somatic mutations are frequent and increase with age in human kidney epithelial cells". Human Molecular Genetics. 5 (2): 215–221. doi:10.1093/hmg/5.2.215. ISSN 0964-6906. PMID 8824877.
  25. ↑ Guo, Q.; Sebastian, L.; Sopher, B. L.; Miller, M. W.; Ware, C. B.; Martin, G. M.; Mattson, M. P. (March 1999). "Increased vulnerability of hippocampal neurons from presenilin-1 mutant knock-in mice to amyloid beta-peptide toxicity: central roles of superoxide production and caspase activation". Journal of Neurochemistry. 72 (3): 1019–1029. doi:10.1046/j.1471-4159.1999.0721019.x. ISSN 0022-3042. PMID 10037473. S2CID 221870765.
  26. ↑ Martin, G. M. (1971). "Brief proposal on immortality: an interim solution". Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 14 (2): 339. doi:10.1353/pbm.1971.0015. ISSN 0031-5982. PMID 5546258. S2CID 71120068.
  27. 1 2 "EMF: Bio". www.ellison-med-fn.org. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  28. ↑ "Awardees". www.geron.org. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  29. ↑ "AAIC Lifetime Achievement Awards | Alzheimer's Association". AAIC. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  30. ↑ "The 22nd Longevity Prize of the Fondation IPSEN is Awarded to Andrzej Bartke". www.businesswire.com. 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
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