The Gairdner Foundation offers its congratulations to Dr. Mario R. Capecchi and Dr. Oliver Smithies who along with Martin J. Evans share the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."

In its press release The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet stated, "This year's Nobel Laureates have made a series of ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals. Their discoveries led to the creation of an immensely powerful technology referred to as gene targeting in mice. It is now being applied to virtually all areas of biomedicine - from basic research to the development of new therapies."

In 1993 The Gairdner Foundation jointly recognized the work of Dr. Capecchi and Dr. Smithies "for pioneering work in the use of homologous recombination to generate targetted mutations in the mouse."

This brings to 70 the number of Gairdner Awardees who have subsequently been recognized by the Nobel Institute