ISSUE 65 DECEMBER 2010

Reflections
on cloning
An interview with
John Gurdon
Grand designs
The SGC’s 1000th protein
structure released

Past presents
Christmas books from
Henry Wellcome
 Wellcome News
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WellcomeNews | Issue 65
Editorial
Elion, who worked for over 30 years at the
Wellcome Research Laboratories in North
Carolina. They pioneered ‘rational drug
design’ – investigating specific molecular
targets for potential drugs – and their
achievements included the first ever
treatment for leukaemia and the first
immunosuppressive agent, used for organ
transplants. Their work was rewarded with
the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine.
It is rare for an organisation to have a
single transformative moment. But the
Trust had one in February 1986, when it
floated the Wellcome Foundation on the
stock market. Over the next 15 years, it sold
In 2011, the Wellcome Trust will be 75 years
all the shares and became fully
old. We usually focus on our current
independent. With the proceeds of the
activities and future plans, so this is a
sales, it could diversify its assets, allowing
refreshing opportunity for us to reflect on
extraordinary growth. In 1988 its asset base
the Trust’s history and evolution into what
was £3.4 billion; today it is around £13bn.
it is today. It is a fascinating story, of how a
Annual spending on research was on average
charitable foundation with only one asset
£28m in the 1980s; today, it is around £600m
– Sir Henry Wellcome’s pharmaceutical
– a more than 20-fold increase.
company, which was insolvent by 1947
So these are the bare bones of the story,
– came to be fully independent and able to
but what they do not show are the
take a world-leading role in funding research.
personalities that the Trust has worked
The story of the origin of the Trust is well
with. For we have been privileged to be
known. On Wellcome’s death in 1936, the
associated with and to support the work
share capital of his company, the Wellcome
of many superb scientists. Henry Foy, the
Foundation Limited, was vested in the
Trust’s first scientific employee, studied
Wellcome Trust. Income from the capital
malaria in Greece in the 1930s – and was
would be used to advance medical research
captured by bandits at one point while
and understanding of its history. As
collecting mosquitoes – then moved to
Wellcome pointed out in his will, “With
Kenya. His research team eventually
the enormous possibility of development
evolved into our Major Overseas
in chemistry, bacteriology, pharmacy and
Programme in Kenya. The sheep studies
allied sciences…there are likely to be vast
of Graham ‘Mont’ Liggins led to the now
fields opened for productive enterprise for
standard treatment of giving steroids to
centuries to come.”
women in premature labour, to help the
Less well known are the struggles of
lungs of preterm babies. Ralph Lainson,
the Trust’s early years. So complex were
funded by us since 1964, has transformed
Wellcome’s affairs and diverse enterprises
our understanding of leishmaniasis in
– and the need to pay enormous estate
South America. Sir John Sulston led the
duties – that the Trust’s income was fairly
UK contributions to the Human Genome
low in its first 20 years, and its total
Project. Nick White’s pioneering studies of
charitable expenditure for the period
the drug artemisinin have led to its wordwide
was £1.2 million. The company struggled
adoption in treatment for malaria.
through World War II and the demands
We plan a range of activities and
of postwar reorganisation.
publications for 2011 to mark this
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Trust’s
anniversary and expand upon some of
funding tended to focus on buildings,
these individual stories, and I hope that
laboratories and equipment – notably
you will join with us in celebrating 75
electron microscopes. From the mid-1960s,
extraordinary years.
it began to focus more on personal grants
to individual scientists, and its funding
grew markedly – as between 1966 and 1986,
annual sales of the Wellcome Foundation
grew from £32m to over £500m. Most of
this growth was owing to the astonishing
Sir Mark Walport
success of George Hitchings and Gertrude Director of the Wellcome Trust
In this issue
Funding

Obesity drug enters clinical trial 6

Scurvy, shark bites and shipwrecks 7
Senior Research Fellows update 7

2 12
News

Join the High Society 2

Book Prize winner announced 3
Awards for Trust photographers 4

Research

Plant fibres and Crohn’s disease 10

8 Genes linked to asthma

Dissecting macular degeneration
Making liver cells in the lab
11
14
14
Features

Indian initiatives 5
Shaping up: the SGC’s 1000 protein structures 8 Noticeboard 17
Changing fates: Sir John Gurdon 12
Henry Wellcome’s Christmas gifts 16

16
WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 1
News
Get a taste of high society
‘Dr Syntax’ experimenting
with laughing gas. Thomas
Rowlandson, after William
Combe. Late 18th/early
19th century.
The role of mind-altering drugs in history
and culture is explored in High Society,
Wellcome Collection’s latest exhibition
(open until 27 February 2011).
Challenging the perception that
drug use is a modern phenomenon, the
exhibition shows how mind-altering drugs
have been used in many ways throughout
history: as medicines, sacraments and
status symbols, to investigate the brain,
inspire works of art or encounter the
divine, or simply as an escape from the
experience of being ourselves. It also
Sir Mark makes no. 2 in science ‘Power 100’
Congratulations to the Trust-associated
scientists named in the inaugural Times
Eureka ‘Power 100’ list of the most
influential people in British science,
published in October.
Top of the pile is Sir Paul Nurse (right),
incoming President of the Royal Society
2 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
demonstrates how psychoactive drugs as
common as alcohol, coffee and tobacco
have all been illegal in the past.
Several events accompany High Society,
including discussions of drugs in history
and culture, and evidence-based drug
policy. And in February 2011, you can also
look forward to a special two-day event
on drugs in Victorian Britain, examining
drugs in literature and culture, the
temperance movement and the origins of
drug control. www.wellcomecollection.
org/highsociety
and Director of the Trust-backed
UK Centre for Medical Research
and Innovation. But a close second
is our own Director, Sir Mark
Walport (left). There are also
several names associated with the
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute:
Professor Sir John Sulston, the
Institute’s first Director and
pioneer of the Human Genome
Project, is at number 6 and Fred
Sanger himself is number 22.
Professor Mike Stratton, the new Director
of the Institute and one of the world’s
leading cancer researchers, is number 36.
Also featured are geneticist and Wellcome
Trust Governor Professor Kay Davies (29)
and the cancer scientist Professor Peter
Ratcliffe (60).
Join us to celebrate 75
extraordinary years
On 25 July 1936, Sir Henry Wellcome died,
aged 82. His will, which he had signed four
years before, vested the entire share capital
of his company, the Wellcome Foundation
Limited, to create the Wellcome Trust
on his death. This means that 2011 is the
Trust’s 75th anniversary. Throughout 2011
we’ll be organising a series of events and
activities to celebrate the thousands of
achievements made over the last 75 years.
Keep an eye on our publications
and www.wellcome.ac.uk to find out
what’s in store, and how you can be part
of the celebrations.
All in hand
Steel replacement hand in Wellcome Collection, c.1890.
Our hands are critical parts of our
bodies, central to the objects we create
and key in our physical interaction with
the world. These amazing appendages
were celebrated in a special Friday-night
spectacular at Wellcome Collection in
November. This event featured everything
from the dexterity of surgery to palm and
graphology readings, and talks on the
evolution of left- and right-handedness.
Other highlights included performances
by Andrew Dawson, a physical theatre
practitioner whose show, The Articulate
Hand, received a Trust Arts Award in 2009.
If you missed that, you can still catch the
Wellcome Library’s exhibition on the
hand, which uses the Library’s unrivalled
collections to explore some extraordinary
stories of the hand’s cultural significance
and use in healing from history to the
present day.
Time to reflect at the British Science Festival Trust YouTube channel
breaks the 100 000 barrier
following in the footsteps of Darwin.
Read about their adventures on their blog
(galapagoslive.wordpress.com).
Elsewhere at the Festival, scientists
from the Wellcome Trust Centre for
Neuroimaging and colleagues reported
that they have identified an area of the
brain that is larger in people who are good
at introspection – the ability to reflect
on our own thoughts, emotions and
behaviour, and one of the key aspects of
consciousness. The study (Fleming SM
Galápagos wildlife. stockcam/iStockphoto et al. Science 2010;329:1541–3) found
that differences in introspection seem Chronic pain, appetite, ageing, dwarfism
The British Science Festival took place connected to a small area of prefrontal – the contents of our YouTube channel are
at Aston University in Birmingham in cortex near the front of the brain. The as eclectic as the research and activities we
September, and was the setting for several team believes the findings might help us fund. Earlier in the year, we were thrilled
big Trust announcements. understand why and how brain damage to find that the fruits of our two full-time
We declared the winners of our Survival can affect a person’s ability to reflect on film makers had been viewed over 100 000
Rivals competition. The students, from St their thoughts, and to develop appropriate times. And – at the time of going to press
Cyres School in Penarth, Wales, travelled interventions in situations such as helping – the total views of the Trust channel now
to the Galápagos Islands in October, patients adhere to their medication. top 130 000. Recent additions include
‘Learning to Fly’ (below), a film about
Professor Dame Linda Partridge and her
And the winner is… team at King’s College London’s Institute
of Healthy Ageing, who are working with
The second Wellcome Trust Book Prize has been won by Rebecca fruit flies to try to understand the precise
Skloot for her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The result mechanisms underpinning Alzheimer’s
was announced at an awards reception at Wellcome Collection disease. All of these films are free to view,
in November. The book tells the story of a poor tobacco farmer share and embed, so visit www.youtube.
whose cancer cells, taken without her knowledge, became one com/wellcometrust to find out more.
of the most important tools in medicine.
Clive Anderson, comedy writer and presenter, chaired the
judging panel, which included philosopher A C Grayling,
author Maggie Gee, historian Michael Neve and scientist and
presenter Alice Roberts. Skloot beat off strong competition
from a varied shortlist featuring both factual accounts and
gripping novels, including work by Lionel Shriver, Tim Parks and others.
Launched in 2009, the £25 000 Prize highlights outstanding works of fiction and
non-fiction on the theme of health, illness or medicine. The 2011 Prize is now open for
submissions. www.wellcomebookprize.org

Dartford marks Wellcome connection

The town of Dartford’s connections with
Sir Henry Wellcome began in 1890, when
he moved his pharmaceutical business’s
production base to a site there. Now,
the town has commemorated these links
by erecting a bandstand, which, after
public consultation, has been named
after Wellcome.
Part of Dartford Borough Council’s
plans to regenerate the town’s Central Park
and restore it to its Edwardian splendour,
the new bandstand is situated close to
Acacia Hall, which for many years served
as a site for social events for employees of
Dartford Borough Council
the Wellcome business. With Wellcome
Trust assistance, the bandstand played
host to a series of traditional concerts
over the summer. On 24 August it was
the setting for a ceremony to mark the
historic connection between Dartford and
the Wellcome business. A time capsule,
which contained items pertaining to
both Henry Wellcome and Dartford, was
buried beneath the bandstand. Attendees
included staff from GSK (formed by the
merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline
Beecham in 2000) and Ross MacFarlane,
representing the Trust.

WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 3
News
Awards recognise outstanding photography
Our congratulations
to Wellcome Library
photographers Dave Sayer
and Ben Gilbert, who have
scooped prizes at the Institute
of Medical Illustrators annual
awards. Dave, who’s also
behind the photography that
graces the pages of Wellcome
News, won a gold award for his
photograph of George Nuku
at Wellcome Collection’s Skin
exhibition. Dave captured
George, an artist, with the
Maori display case George
created for the exhibition
(near right). Dave was also given a bronze award for his chilling
photograph of an engorged female sand fly (far right), the vector
for visceral leishmaniasis – a potentially fatal tropical disease.
Telling stories in science:
report out now
In December 2009, 84 delegates from
22 countries met in Bangalore, India
to participate in the second Wellcome
Trust International Engagement
Workshop: ‘Telling Stories’. Health
researchers, artists, educationalists,
drama and development practitioners
came together to share their personal
experiences and discuss lessons and
ideas about engaging the public with
science and why narrative matters in
doing so. A full report of the meeting is
now available for download:
www.wellcome.ac.uk/tellingstories
TELLING STORIES:
HOW THE PUBLIC
CAN ENGAGE WITH
SCIENCE
Bangalore 2009
Conference Report
4 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
62
Ben was presented with
a bronze award for his
striking photograph of a
19th-century wax embryo
(below), recognising his
excellent use of technique.
www.imi.org.uk
Trust and others team up to drive open access
The Wellcome Trust is one of ten leading Open Access Implementation Group and
organisations from the higher education will coordinate evidence, policies, systems
and research sectors that have joined and guidance to make open
forces to drive the implementation of access an easy choice
open access in the UK. for authors and one
Open access is a part of a that benefits all
movement toward more openness universities. The
and transparency in universities group will also
and the public sector. It promises promote a deeper
significant benefits for universities understanding of
nicepix25216 on Flickr
and the UK economy as papers, the opportunities
educational resources and data that open access offers
are more widely available to support for the UK to maintain
teaching, research and innovation. its worldwide reputation and
The ten organisations will form the UK impact. www.jisc.ac.uk/openaccess
Trust Chairman hosts dinner in Japan
At the sixth Science and Technology
in Society forum in Kyoto, Japan, Trust
Chairman Sir William Castell hosted
a special dinner for African ministers
responsible for research. The event, held
in early October, introduced guests to
the many Trust activities throughout
Africa and explored the opportunity and
barriers to building research capacity
across Africa. The forum
brought together over 1000
global leaders from policy,
business, science and the
media to discuss the progress
of science and technology.
www.stsforum.org
Indian initiatives
In July, the Trust’s Director, Sir Mark Walport,
accompanied David Cameron on a trip to India.
The Prime Minister could not have had a better
guide to medical research in India, with the
Trust funding several innovative initiatives
there. Mun-Keat Looi presents a quick
guide to some of our activities.
MSD–Wellcome Trust Hilleman
Laboratories
A joint venture between the Trust
and Merck & Co., Inc., the Hilleman
Laboratories combine the best of the
business and not-for-profit sectors to
develop and deliver vaccines for low-
income countries.
Named after pioneering vaccine scientist
Dr Maurice Hilleman, the Laboratories
will provide key expertise in developing
new vaccines and optimising existing
ones – expertise usually available only
within large companies. They will also
work with vaccine manufacturers to ensure
that production can be scaled up and
that the vaccines are affordable. As well as
developing new vaccines in areas of unmet
need, the Laboratories will also look to
optimise existing vaccines.
Since the September 2009 launch, work
has been progressing on the Laboratories
in earnest. The CEO, Dr Altaf Lal, and
other senior staff have been appointed
and their offices established in Delhi.
Once operational, research will focus
initially on improving Merck’s RotaTeq
vaccine against rotavirus gastroenteritis
by making the vaccine more stable at
different temperatures, while Hilleman’s
international Strategic Advisory
Committee, chaired by Dr David Heymann
(former Assistant Director General of the
World Health Organization), will examine
future priorities.
www.hillemanlaboratories.in
Wellcome Trust–DBT India Alliance
A five-year, £80 million initiative between
the Trust and the Indian government’s
Department of Biotechnology, the Alliance
seeks to strengthen Indian biomedical
sciences through a series of fellowship
programmes. The aim
is to support the most
promising researchers at
three specific career stages:
early, intermediate and
senior. The Alliance has so
far awarded eight early-stage
project grants, ten intermediate
fellowships and ten senior
fellowships. www.wellcomedbt.org
R&D for Affordable Healthcare for India
This initiative looks to bring together
researchers from the public and private
sectors, largely working in India,
to develop innovative new devices,
diagnostics, medicines and vaccines.
Announced during Sir Mark’s visit, this
£45 million partnership between the
Trust and the Indian Department of
Biotechnology follows a successful pilot
scheme. The initiative has a number of
awards in the pipeline in areas such as
cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis and
ophthalmology. One such project is a
collaboration between the LV Prasad Eye
Institute in Hyderabad and the University
of Sheffield to develop and use new
biocompatible materials for a stem-cell-
based therapy to restore sight where the
cornea has been damaged by chemical
injury or burns. The initiative’s funding
committee has made five awards to date,
with others to come. www.wellcome.
ac.uk/techtransfer/india
South Asia Network for
Chronic Diseases
In 2008, Professor Shah Ebrahim was
granted a £4.5 million Strategic Award
to establish the South Asia Network for
Chronic Disease, a collaboration between
the Public Health Foundation of India and
scibak/iStockphoto
the five London institutions
that make up the Wellcome
Trust Bloomsbury Centre for
Clinical Tropical Medicine. Network
partners, which include research
groups across India and in Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, share skills
and knowledge to try to improve the
prevention and control of chronic disease
in South Asia.
Indian Programme Awards
For many years, the Trust has supported
research on the Indian subcontinent on
a wide variety of topics in the history of
medicine, such as public health, epidemics
and historical epidemiology, and the
interaction of Western and traditional
systems of medicine.
To build on this, this year saw the launch
of the Indian Programme Awards. This
scheme will provide up to five years of
flexible support for medical humanities
researchers in India. The aim is for
grantholders to act as a ‘hub’ of research
and training activities in medical history
and humanities for their own region or
state and develop local collaborations
across several disciplines, enabling a more
fruitful dialogue between the humanities,
public health workers and policy makers.
Debating Matters
In 2009, in partnership with the British
Council, we took the ‘Debating Matters’
competition to India. This brings together
students from all backgrounds to debate
topical scientific issues. An extended Society
Award from the Trust saw the competition
run for a second time in January 2010 with
a final in Delhi, and a third competition will
run in 2011. www.debatingmatters.com/
projects/debating_matters_india/
WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 5
Funding
Obesity drug enters
clinical trial
A promising anti-obesity drug has entered
its first phase I clinical trial. With funding
from our Seeding Drug Discovery initiative,
Professor Steve Bloom and his team at
Imperial College London have developed
a novel, synthetic form of a gut hormone,
pancreatic polypeptide, that naturally
suppresses appetite. Their lead compound
Trust partners up to promote prevention
We have agreed to commit up to £2 million to
the latest call for proposals under phase 4 of the
National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI)
– a partnership of governmental departments,
research councils and medical charities that aims
to encourage and support research into preventing
chronic disease.
Dr Pat Goodwin, Wellcome Trust Head of
Pathogens, Immunology and Population
Health, said: “The Trust’s Strategic Plan 2010–20
recognises the need to support multidisciplinary
research to understand the biological, social and
environmental factors that influence lifestyle
decisions and inform prevention strategies at
the population as well as the individual level.
The research supported under NPRI phase 4 will
provide an evidence base to inform policy on
interventions at the population level.”
Public health poster, 1946.

Support renewed for Kenya Programme

was shown to cause a significant reduction
in food intake and body weight in mice and
entered human trials earlier this year. If
successful, the proposed research may lead
to a treatment within five to eight years.
You can watch a video about this
research (see stills above) at www.
wellcome.ac.uk/obesitytreatment or
www.youtube.com/wellcometrust
activities for the next five
years. A collaboration
between the University
of Oxford and the Kenya
Medical Research Institute,
the KEMRI–Wellcome Trust
Research Programme studies
conditions such as malaria,
bacteraemias, respiratory
syncytial viral infections,
HIV and malnutrition. A
Kilifi District Hospital, Kenya. Mark Jones separate £1.2m award will
establish a new link between
Our Major Overseas Programme
the Programme and Muhimbili
in Kenya continues to make
University in Dar es Salaam,
important contributions
Tanzania, focusing on research
to tropical medicine and
into sickle-cell disease.
has been awarded £32.5
million to support its

Awards to support genetics innovations

Back in July 2009, we opened the Health Innovation Challenge Fund to stimulate the
development of innovative healthcare products, technologies and interventions.
We have made the first awards and among those funded are two groups from
the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Dr Nigel Carter’s team received £10
million to improve the diagnosis of developmental disorders. They will
build on the DECIPHER database – an online catalogue of genetic changes
linked to symptoms – to create a more detailed resource and cheaper,
more efficient diagnostic microarray tools for genetic testing. Meanwhile,
Dr Peter Campbell and colleagues will use their £1.6m award to
develop ways to identify DNA fragments from specific cancer
tumours in a patient’s bloodstream. This could offer a way
to monitor patient responses to treatment and to predict
relapses. www.wellcome.ac.uk/hicf Anthea Sieveking

6 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
 Support to study cells
A pair of new Wellcome Trust awards
will allow University of Oxford
researchers to gain further insight into
two important aspects of cell function.
Professor Kim Nasmyth has received
a £2.8 million programme grant to
study cell replication, in particular how
DNA segregates to opposite sides of the
cell before it divides. Of key interest is
cohesin, a protein complex previously
identified in yeast studies. This research
should improve our understanding of
what causes a broad range of genetic
disorders. Linked to this work, Professor
Nasmyth and his colleagues have also
been given a £3.8m Strategic Award
to develop novel microscopes to help
visualise how DNA moves during the
segregation process.
Meanwhile, a team led by Professor
Peter Ratcliffe (pictured) has received
a £1.3m programme grant to study
Scurvy, shark bites and
shipwrecks
The National Archives
With Trust funding, the National Archives
has opened up and made accessible over
1000 Royal Navy medical officers’ journals,
compiled by Royal Navy surgeons and
assistant surgeons who served on HM
ships, hospitals, naval brigades, shore
parties and on emigrant and convict ships
from 1793 to 1880. The journals tell of
ship life, including drunken rum-related
incidents, venereal disease, shark bites,
scurvy (above), tarantulas, gunfights,
mutiny, shipwrecks, arrests and courts-
martial. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
surgeonsatsea
Robert Taylor
hypoxia – when cells are starved of
oxygen. The team’s previous work has
revealed much about how cells sense and
respond to hypoxia. Their new research
will look at the signalling molecules
involved to understand better how
cells respond in this situation. Such
knowledge will guide the design of drugs
for cardiovascular disease and cancer, in
which hypoxia plays an important role.
New grants to research history of anti-
psychiatry movement
Until the 1960s, psychiatric patients were
stigmatised as ‘ill’ and asylums were little
more than prisons. A group of psychiatrists
revolted, advocating more humane
treatment. This was the beginning of the
‘anti-psychiatry movement’, which is
explored in two new Medical History and
Humanities grants. Professor John Foot
of University College London is studying
Corridor in High Royds Hospital, Yorkshire, formerly a Victorian lunatic asylum. By Paul Digby.
Senior Research
Fellows latest
One achievement we’re particularly proud
of is our role in the long-term career
development of outstanding researchers,
several of whom have recently received
Trust Senior Research Fellowships. Dr
Adele Marston was previously a Wellcome
Trust Prize Student, a Travelling Fellow and
a Research Career Development Fellow,
and studies cell division at the Wellcome
Trust Centre for Cell Biology in Edinburgh.
Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg, who researches
brain changes associated with learning
and recovery from stroke at the University
of Oxford, is also on her fourth award,
as is Professor Nancy Papalopulu of the
University of Manchester, who studies
the development of neurons. Finally,
Professors Sophie Scott and Greg Towers of
University College London have received
their third Trust awards to continue their
research into the neurobiology of speech
and molecular virology, respectively.
the Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia,
a key figure who spearheaded the reform
of Italian asylums. Meanwhile, Professor
Howard Caygill and Dr David Reggio of
Goldsmiths, University of London are
investigating the factors that led to reform
in Brazil, and how changes in France had
an influence.
WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 7
Shaping up
In September, the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), an international public–
private partnership that aims to determine three-dimensional structures of medically
important proteins, announced the release into the public domain of its 1000th
high-resolution protein structure. We’ve picked five structures from this 1000, which
have been solved by researchers working in SGC laboratories around the world,
and give you the lowdown on their structures and functions below. Find out more
on all of the structures determined by the SGC, including additional ‘follow-on’
structures, at www.thesgc.org/structures.

Self-renewal in stem cells

STRUCTURE 1000: JMJD2C
The structure of JMJD2C was solved as a part
of an SGC programme focused on epigenetic
signalling. Epigenetics is the study of
inherited changes in gene expression – how
genes are switched on or off – that occur
without a change in the DNA sequence.
What does it do? JMJD2C is believed
to be an important epigenetic regulator.
Established functions include a role in
mainaining self-renewal in stem cells as
well as roles in cancer; changes in this
gene are for example associated with
oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Solved by: A team led by Prof. Udo
Opperman, University of Oxford (paper
to be published).

Regulating cell processes

STRUCTURE 870: TNKS2
TNKS2 belongs to a class of proteins,
PARPs, that regulate key functions in the
cell. Some, PARP1 and PARP2, are involved
in repairing DNA damage, and are pursued
as drug targets for development of new
treatments for different types of cancer.
What does it do? TNKS2 is involved in
the control of several processes that are
often misregulated in cancer cells. They
are therefore also attracting significant
interest as drug targets for cancer.
Solved by: A team led by Dr Herwig
Schüler, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
(J Med Chem 2010;53:5352–5).

8 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
Making energy
STRUCTURE 764: PKM2
What does it do? PKM2
is a key metabolic enzyme
involved in generating
energy within cells. It has
been linked to diseases
related to both glucose and
oxygen use, such as diabetes, and
the development of blood vessels. PKM2
is typically found in lung tissue as well
as all cells with high rates of nucleic acid
synthesis, including all proliferating cells
such as embryonic cells and especially
tumour cells.
Solved by: A team led by Dr Hee-Won
Park, University of Toronto (Bioorg Med
Chem Lett 2010;20:3387–93).

Unwinding DNA
STRUCTURE 868: RECQL IN COMPLEX
WITH DNA
What does it do? RECQL is a so-called
DNA helicase, a group of proteins that
unwind and separate the two strands of
the DNA helix to facilitate processes such
Controlling the cytoskeleton
as DNA replication, transcription
STRUCTURE 989: SHIP2
and repair. The RecQ family of
What does it do? SHIP2 regulates the
DNA helicases is conserved
actin cytoskeleton in the cell and plays an
in organisms from bacteria
important role in the control of insulin
to human: E.coli and yeast
sensitivity. Genetic differences in the
produce just one RecQ
SHIP2 gene have been linked to type
protein, whereas the
2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
human genome has five
The structure provides novel insights
distinct family members.
into enzymatic function and molecular
Mutations in the genes
recognition.
that produce these
Solved by: A team led by Prof. Pär
proteins cause genetic
Nordlund, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
disorders that result in a
(paper to be published).
high incidence of cancer and
chromosomal instability, as
well as gene-specific defects
such as premature ageing and
developmental defects.
Solved by: A team led by Dr Opher
Gileadi, University of Oxford (Biophys
Chem 2010;149:67–77).

Images courtesy of Dr Wen Hwa Lee, Structural Genomics Consortium

WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 9
Research
Human malaria began in gorillas, study shows

Researchers have recently shown that the

most common form of human malaria
– caused by Plasmodium falciparum –
originated from infected gorillas, though it
remains unclear when the disease jumped
to humans. The finding contradicts earlier
studies’ claims that the disease began in
chimpanzees and bonobo apes.
Using techniques developed for HIV
analysis, scientists from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham, the Wellcome
Trust Sanger Institute and colleagues
identified the malaria parasites infecting
apes. They analysed over 2700 ape faecal
samples collected from 57 field sites
throughout central Africa.
They found a nearly perfect genetic
match between the human malaria
rowan.simpson on Flickr
parasite P. falciparum and those infecting
wild gorillas. The parasite was widespread, Studies of the primate precursors of HIV Hahn from the University of Alabama,
with up to half of the apes in some have unravelled many aspects of AIDS who led the research.
communities were infected. It is not pathogenesis. I expect the same to happen
known whether infection causes malaria- when the biology of the gorilla precursor Liu W et al. Origin of the human malaria parasite
like disease in apes. of P. falciparum is compared to that of its Plasmodium falciparum in western gorillas. Nature
2010;467(7314):420–5.
“Like AIDS, malaria is of primate origin. human counterpart,” said Dr Beatrice

Can plant fibres help treat Crohn’s? Gene findings add to

Fibres found in vegetables such as broccoli
and plantain can prevent bacteria from
penetrating cells of the gut, considered
to be a key stage in the onset of Crohn’s
disease, according to a study we have
part-funded.
People with Crohn’s disease have
been shown to have higher numbers of a
particular strain of E. coli sticking to the
gut wall. The ‘sticky’ E. coli are capable of
penetrating the gut wall via specialised
cells called M cells. It is thought that this
triggers an immune reaction and chronic
inflammation, which causes the symptoms
Arthur Chapman on Flickr
that are associated with Crohn’s disease.
In cell culture experiments and in
samples of human intestinal tissue, the
researchers found that soluble fibres from
tall story
elena’s pantry on Flickr
broccoli and plantain prevented E. coli
from getting into M cells. In contrast,
polysorbate-80, a common stabiliser
added to processed foods, encouraged the
movement of bacteria through the cells.
This latter finding may offer a potential
explanation for the association between
Crohn’s disease and the ‘Western’ diet.
The research was performed by
researchers from the University of
Liverpool working with biotechnology
company Provexis. They are now
conducting clinical trials to test whether a
new plantain-based food product could be
used to treat patients with the disease.
Roberts CL et al. Translocation of Crohn’s disease
Escherichia coli across M-cells: contrasting effects of
soluble plant fibres and emulsifiers. Gut 2010;59:1331–9.
Hundreds of common genetic variants
across the human genome influence
adult height, according to a study of
over 180 000 people. The research
shows that these variants are not
randomly distributed, but clustered
around genes that have been linked
to growth. The researchers from the
GIANT Consortium, including teams
from the UK, the USA, Iceland and the
Netherlands, identified a total of 180
genetic variants that influence height.
Yet they say this still only accounts for
around 10 per cent of our inherited
variation in height, showing just how
complex the trait is. It’s estimated that
over 80 per cent
of the variation
in height within
a population is
due to genetic
factors, with
the remainder
influenced by the
environment,
such as diet.
GIANT Consortium. Hundreds of common variants
clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways
influence human height. Nature 2010;467(7317):832–8.

10 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
 Sleep apnoea linked to changes in brain structure
Obstructive sleep apnoea occurs when
someone stops breathing while sleeping,
because their airway at the back of the
throat becomes blocked. This can lead
to excessive sleepiness, increased risk of
stroke and heart attack, and cognitive
impairment. The changes in the brain
that cause these cognitive effects are
little understood, and studies into links
between sleep apnoea and changes
in brain structure have so far yielded
conflicting results.
Now, research from the UK and
Australia has reinforced the idea that
there are differences in brain structure
between people with sleep apnoea and
healthy controls, although more work
is needed to understand how these
differences affect brain function. For
the study, 60 people with severe sleep
apnoea were recruited from sleep clinics
Study uncovers genetic component to ADHD
Artwork illustrating neural development. Bill McConkey
Researchers have found the first
direct evidence that attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a
genetic component. Scientists at Cardiff
University found that children with
ADHD were more likely than other
children to have small segments of
their DNA – known as copy number
variants – duplicated or missing. They
also found significant overlap between
these segments and genetic variants
implicated in autism and schizophrenia,
providing strong evidence that ADHD is a
neurodevelopmental disorder.
at the Royal Brompton and Charing
Cross Hospitals in London and Austin
Health, Melbourne, alongside 60 healthy
controls. The researchers used magnetic
resonance imaging to compare the
volume of grey matter in the two groups.
Compared with controls, people
with sleep apnoea had significantly
reduced amounts of grey matter in the
temporal lobe and the cerebellum. The
team concludes that these deficits could
negatively affect motor processing and
working memory – which could, in
combination with sleepiness, impair the
everyday tasks such as driving that suffer
as a result of sleep apnoea.
The condition is thought to affect
around 2–4 per cent of younger adults
and over 15 per cent of elderly people.
Morrell MJ et al. Changes in brain morphology in patients
with obstructive sleep apnoea. Thorax 2010;65:908–14.
“We hope that these findings will help
overcome the stigma associated with
ADHD,” says Professor Anita Thapar, who
led the study. “Too often, people dismiss
ADHD as being down to bad parenting or
poor diet. As a clinician, it was clear to me
that this was unlikely to be the case. Now
we can say with confidence that ADHD
is a genetic disease and that the brains
of children with this condition develop
differently to those of other children.”
Williams NM et al. Rare chromosomal deletions and
duplications in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a
genome-wide analysis. Lancet 2010 [Epub ahead of print].
More genetic variants linked
to asthma
A large international study that we part-
funded has identified several genetic
variants that increase susceptibility to
asthma in the population.
Researchers from the GABRIEL
consortium – a collaboration of 164
scientists from 19 countries in Europe –
along with other groups in the UK, Canada
and Australia looked at DNA samples from
10 000 children and adults with asthma,
and 16 000 non-asthmatics, to pinpoint
differences in sequence. The seven
locations they found contribute to asthma
in more than a third of children with the
disease. Strong environmental effects on
asthma mean that these markers will not
be useful for predicting asthma early in
life, but the findings point the way towards
better-targeted therapy.
Childhood asthma, which can persist
throughout life, is often linked to allergies,
and it has been assumed that these can
trigger the condition. Yet the study
found that genes controlling the levels of
immunoglobulin E (IgE) – elevated levels
of which are associated with allergies – had
little effect on the presence of asthma,
suggesting that allergies are more likely to
be a consequence of asthma than a cause.
Professor Miriam Moffatt from Imperial
College London, one of the study’s leaders,
said: “This does not mean that allergies
are not important, but it does mean that
concentrating therapies only on allergies
will not effectively treat the whole disease.”
Moffatt MF et al. A large-scale, consortium-based
genomewide association study of asthma. N Engl J Med
2010;363(13):1211–21.
WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 11
WellcomeNews | Issue 61 | 11
Changing fates: Sir John Gurdon
Professor Sir John Gurdon is the man who made cloning possible,
pioneering nuclear transfer and the ‘reprogramming’ of the fate of cells.
Yet, as he tells Mun-Keat Looi, he himself owes a lot to fate and luck.

Among the clutter of John Gurdon’s
brightly lit Cambridge office sits a
picture frame, displaying a small scrap
of browning paper from an early school
report. It reads: “I believe he has ideas
about becoming a scientist…this is quite
ridiculous…it would be a sheer waste of
time, both on his part and of those who
have to teach him.”
Professor Sir John Gurdon is now
a knight of the realm, a Fellow of the
Royal Society, a former Governor of the
Wellcome Trust and the scientist who kick-
started the field of cloning.
That he should have so utterly disproved
his schoolteacher’s assessment is
testimony to his passion for science – and
to an element of luck.
“There’s a saying: ‘Luck favours the
prepared mind’,” he says. “Ninety per cent
of the time things don’t work, but when
they do you have to seize the opportunity.”
Change of direction The discovery caused shockwaves around
Had history taken a different turn, John the scientific community, not least because
Gurdon wouldn’t even be a scientist. a mere graduate student had disproved
Educated at Eton, he was on course to previously held dogma developed by more
study classics, only to receive a surprising famous and established scientists.
offer from an Oxford admissions tutor who “In the 1950s, no one knew if all cells in
had neglected to fill all the places at his the body had the same genes,” says John.
college. Fate, if a scientist believes in such “The hypothesis was that as cells grew
things, led the young John to follow his they lost the genes they didn’t need.” His
childhood interests and read Zoology at finding proved that cells all carry the same
Christ Church.
A PhD followed in 1962, and there again
fate intervened. Challenged with working
on transplanting a nucleus from one cell
to another, John successfully ‘cloned’ the
South African frog Xenopus laevis from a
tadpole’s intestinal cell (“a pivotal piece of
luck,” he says) by transplanting the nucleus
into an empty Xenopus egg cell. The result
was an organism genetically identical to the
tadpole before. This proved that cells can be
‘reprogrammed’ to start anew.

12 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65

The South African frog Xenopus laevis.
genes, with other factors telling the cell
which to use. The biologist John Haldane
dubbed John’s achievement ‘cloning’,
borrowing a term from plant biology, and
a new field was born.
“If you take a skin cell nucleus and put
it into an egg cell which has had its own
genes removed, you can get a normal
animal,” John explains. “The question
then was: how can it do it?”
“Ninety per cent of the
time things don’t work, but
when they do you have to
seize the opportunity.”
Get with the reprogram
John’s current research, funded by three
successive Wellcome Trust grants, focuses
again on the Xenopus egg cell. His research
group is working to tease out the molecules
and mechanisms through which they
reverse specialisation. If they can work this
out, it may one day be possible to create
an endless supply of embryonic stem cells
from adult cells.
“It’s remarkable that an egg cell – this
the components of eggs are.” excites him and, though realising the
There are two things you need to do to vision of regenerating entire organs is
reprogram a cell: reactivate suppressed still some way away, John believes that
genes and activate other genes. regenerating individual cells is on the
John says: “In a specialised cell, a lot horizon. He points to the work of Professor
of genes are switched off by suppressor Pete Coffey, Director of the London Project
molecules. We want to find out what these to Cure Blindness and Professor of Cellular
suppressors are and how the egg removes Therapy and Visual Sciences, who has
them in reprogramming. The other thing managed to regenerate retinal epithelial
is when you start up an embryo, certain cells from stem cells to treat macular
genes need to be activated – we want to degeneration in mice.
identify these and how they work.” “Progress in replicating individual
His great hope is that we can one day kinds of cells is really quite hopeful, and
generate banks of
replacement heart,
brain, blood, skin
or other cells that
are grown from our
own cells and thus
avoid the problems
of rejection and
immunosuppression
that come with
current tissue and
organ transplants.
And, unlike new
methods such as
induced pluripotent
stem cells,
reprogramming of
egg cells remains,
Xenopus laevis egg cells.
he says, the most
“natural” method, harnessing an inherent treatments are feasible if you think of
property of egg cells and creating stem cells neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s
most amenable to clinical transplantation. disease where certain cells are defective.
It’s difficult but it will happen.”
Prospects for regeneration At the age of 77, he is fuelled by the same
We sit in his ecletically decorated office curiosity and passion that took him to
on the second floor Oxford in the 1950s, work that still spurs
of the Gurdon him to arrive early in the lab.
Institute, formerly “I once asked Dame Miriam Rothschild
the Wellcome Trust– [the British zoologist and author] what it
Cancer Research UK is like when you reach an older age. She
Institute of Cancer said to me: ‘You just have to focus more
and Developmental and more on what you really know about.’
Biology, renamed So if you focus down, one can still get a lot
in his honour (“A done, even in your later years.”
great honour but a In that fateful school report, his teacher
strange feeling…like wrote that the young John “will not listen,
a coded message that but will insist on doing his work in his own
you should be dead way”. How fortunate.
but have failed to do
References
so!”). John founded
Gurdon JB. The developmental capacity of nuclei taken from
the centre in 1989 with his colleague Ron
intestinal epithelium cells of feeding tadpoles. J Embryol
Laskey and chaired it for 12 years. Exp Morphol 1962;10:622–40.
“We started with two groups and now Gurdon JB, Colman A. The future of cloning. Nature
there are 18. It means we can have a greater 2000;402:743–6.

single cell – has every instruction it needs
to turn itself into a complex organism,”
says John. “It knows how to go through
this remarkable process; that is an amazing
phenomenon. Yet there are very few
people worldwide trying to work out what
diversity of work in roughly the same
field. And being in Cambridge is hugely
beneficial – if we want to do something
there’s almost always someone nearby
doing something like it.”
The future of cloning and stem cells
Gurdon JB, Byrne JA. The first half-century of nuclear
transplantation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003;100:8048–52.
Gurdon JB. From nuclear transfer to nuclear reprogramming:
the reversal of cell differentiation. Ann Rev Cell Dev Biol
2006;22:1–22.
Gurdon JB, Melton DA. Nuclear reprogramming in cells.
Science 2008;322:1811–5.

WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 13
Research
Pharma collaborations
bear fruit
Two collaborations between Trust-
funded researchers and pharmaceutical
companies have yielded groundbreaking
results. An international collaboration,
including scientists from the Novartis
Institute for Tropical Diseases, has
developed a potent new drug candidate
for malaria. Tests have shown that it
can clear malaria in mice with a single
oral dose. Meanwhile, researchers
from GlaxoSmithKline have published
detailed X-ray crystallography
pictures that reveal how a new type of
The new GSK antibacterial (yellow) latches onto
the topoisomerase enzyme and prevents it from
performing its function. Ben Bax
experimental antibiotic can kill bacteria
that are resistant to existing treatments.
The findings could help scientists to
develop new antibiotics to tackle the
bacteria responsible for many hospital-
and community-acquired infections.
Rottmann M et al. Spiroindolones, a potent compound
class for the treatment of malaria. Science 2010;329
(5996):1175–80.
Bax B et al. Type llA topoisomerase inhibition by a new
class of antibacterial agents. Nature 2010:466(7309):935–40.
Researchers make liver cells to model disease
Scientists from the University of
Cambridge have created diseased liver
cells from a small sample of human
skin, showing for the first time that
stem cells can be used to model a diverse
range of inherited disorders. Liver cells
(hepatocytes) cannot be grown in the
laboratory, which makes researching liver
disorders extremely difficult. By replicating
the organ’s cells, researchers can not only
investigate exactly what is happening in a
diseased cell but also test the effectiveness
of new therapies to treat these conditions.
14 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
Team finds mutation involved in macular degeneration
Macular degeneration.
Researchers from the Wellcome Trust
Centre for Cell-Matrix Research in
Manchester have revealed more about how
a particular genetic change significantly
raises the risk of developing age-related
macular degeneration. This disease, the
major cause of blindness in the Western
world, is preceded by the build-up of small
yellow particles (drusen) in the retina. This
Linking lipids to coronary artery disease
Researchers from the Wellcome Trust
Sanger Institute have shed further light
on why lipids (fats) and the body’s lipid
transporters are important indicators for
coronary artery disease. Looking at the
genomes and gene products of a sample of
people in Finland, they found a correlation
between a network of inflammatory
genes and levels of lipids in the blood.
Furthermore, the expression of the genes
involved was so highly coordinated that
they appeared to function as part of a single
pathway, itself highly correlated with
and reactive to lipid levels. The findings
provide an insight into how lipids activate
circulating immune cells, potentially
contributing to coronary artery disease.
A liver cell. University of Edinburgh
It is hoped that this discovery will lead
to individually tailored treatments and
eventually cell-based therapy, where cells
leads to the death of photoreceptor cells
and thus loss of central vision.
Professor Tony Day, Dr Simon Clark
and Professor Paul Bishop found that the
Y402H polymorphism of the CFH gene
altered the function of complement factor
H, a key protein that helps prevent damage
to the body. This coding change reduces
the protein’s ability to bind to the part
of the retina where drusen accumulate,
suggesting a potential mechanism through
which age-related macular degeneration
develops. The finding could help us
develop new therapeutic strategies for
treating or preventing the condition.
Clark SJ et al. Impaired binding of the AMD-associated
complement factor H 402H allotype to Bruch’s membrane
in human retina. J Biol Chem 2010;285(39):30192–202.
Clark SJ et al. Complement factor H and age-related
macular degeneration: the role of glycosaminoglycan
recognition in disease pathology. Biochem Soc Trans
2010;38(5):1342–8.
An artery with thickened walls.
Inouye M et al. An immune response network associated
with blood lipid levels. PLoS Genet 2010;6(9):e1001113.
from people with genetic diseases are
‘cured’ and transplanted back.
“We know that given the shortage of
donor liver organs, alternative strategies
must urgently be sought,” said Dr Tamir
Rashid, lead author on the paper.
“Our study improves the possibility that
such alternatives will be found, either
using new drugs or a cell-based
therapeutic approach.”
Rashid ST et al. Modeling inherited metabolic disorders of
the liver using human induced pluripotent stem cells. J Clin
Invest 2010;120(9):3127–36.
 Q&A: David Rubinsztein
Around one person in every 500 – some
120 000 people in the UK – develops
Parkinson’s disease. Professor David
Rubinsztein, a Wellcome Trust Senior
Research Fellow at the Cambridge
Institute for Medical Research, studies
how genetic mutations lead to
neurodegenerative diseases. A recent
paper from his group revealed more
about how certain mutations may
cause toxicity in neurons in forms
of Parkinson’s.
What is α-synuclein?
α-synuclein is a protein that is the
predominant component of the
clumps seen in neurons in Parkinson’s
disease. Recent discoveries have shown
that certain people have extra copies
of the α-synuclein gene, and these
people develop early-onset forms of
Parkinson’s disease.
What was the aim of your study?
Our study looked at whether autophagy
– a process through which cells
engulf cytoplasm, organelles and
protein complexes and deliver them
for degradation – is abnormal when
α-synuclein is overexpressed. This
evolved from one of our earlier studies,
which found that α-synuclein enhanced
the aggregation of mutant forms of
huntingtin [the protein associated
with Huntington’s disease]. We later
discovered that mutant huntingtin was
degraded by autophagy. The question
was: does α-synuclein block autophagy?
What did you find?
Increased levels of α-synuclein do indeed
block autophagy. This could explain
some of the key pathologies you see in
Parkinson’s disease. First, it’s plausible that
since this extra α-synuclein does impede
autophagy, then cells will be more prone
to developing protein aggregates.
Second, one of the common
abnormalities in Parkinson’s disease is
malfunction of the mitochondria within
cells. Unhealthy mitochondria produce
increased levels of reactive oxygen
species, among other things, which
are harmful to a cell. Since autophagy
can selectively remove and degrade
malfunctioning mitochondria, these will
be more likely to accumulate when there
is excess α-synuclein.
Mitochondrion surrounded by cytoplasm.
Dr David Furness
How does Rab1a fit into this?
Rab1a was a clue that we got from a
study by Susan Lindquist’s lab at the
Whitehead Institute in the USA. It’s a
molecule that helps to transport proteins
when they are first produced (this is
known as the early secretory pathway).
Lindquist’s group found that Rab1a
activity was impaired in a yeast model of
Parkinson’s disease. They also found they
could overcome some of the toxicity
of α-synuclein in fruit-fly and cultured
neuron models of Parkinson’s disease by
overexpressing Rab1a.
We tested whether decreased activity of
Rab1a impaired autophagy. And indeed
it did. Interestingly, we also found that if
we overproduce Rab1a, it can counteract
the impaired autophagy caused by high
levels of α-synuclein.
What are the implications of your findings?
Our data provide some plausible
explanations for the cellular
abnormalities you see in Parkinson’s
disease. Certainly, too much α-synuclein
is not a good thing. But the effects we see
are only a partial block on autophagy,
not a full block. The question is: is that
significant? Over many decades of life,
as is the scenario in Parkinson’s disease,
I think it is likely to be of consequence.
But autophagy is probably just one of
the players in the orchestra regulating
cellular health in Parkinson’s disease.
Our data also tell us how disrupting
some of the machinery involved in the
early secretory pathway might have an
impact on autophagy. However, some
of our data suggest that disrupting
other machinery involved in the early
secretory pathway does not result in the
same type of block in autophagy.
So there may be some specificity to the
way Rab1a works in this context.
What’s next for your research?
We need to understand how exactly
α-synuclein is impairing Rab1a function.
It is likely – on the basis of the Lindquist
data – that if one impairs Rab1a function
with α-synuclein you are also going to
affect other aspects of cellular health.
A molecular understanding of that will
be challenging but useful.
We also need to know how exactly Rab1a
affects autophagy. That’s important not
only from the disease perspective but
also for understanding the relationship
between signals coming from the early
secretory pathway to autophagy, and
the protein degradation in the rest of the
cell. There are quite a few black boxes
that need to be tackled there.
What do you do outside of work?
I’m a keen cellist and like listening
to music. I also enjoy reading,
particularly biographies.
Winslow AR et al. α-Synuclein impairs macroautophagy:
implications for Parkinson’s disease. J Cell Biol
2010;190(6):1023–37.
WellcomeNews | Issue 65 | 15
You shouldn’t have…
Every Christmas from the 1890s until 1914, Henry Wellcome gave a book to the employees of
his pharmaceutical business, Burroughs Wellcome & Co. Ross MacFarlane looked through the
Wellcome Library archives to find out about some of these titles and what they might tell
us about Henry and his feelings towards his staff, as well as attitudes of employers in Victorian
and Edwardian times more generally.
Forget socks,
handkerchiefs or
dodgy toiletry kits
– Henry Wellcome
had a consistent
approach to buying
Christmas presents
for his staff, giving
books to each
employee every
year. But what kind
of titles did he offer
and what insights
can these give us
into Henry as an
employer and as
a man?
Among the titles,
there’s some fiction,
a little poetry, numerous biographical
works and at least one compendium.
Most of the titles were popular at the
time, but not all of them remembered
in the 21st century. A clear theme from
the titles is that of self-improvement
and utility. Through examples of self-
made men promoting the virtues of hard
work, Wellcome was not only giving role
models to his staff but also commenting
on his own journey from impoverished
childhood in rural America to wealth and
success in London. A journey made, of
course, through sheer hard work.
For example, in 1907 Wellcome gave as
his Christmas book Samuel Smiles’s Life
and Labour (1887). One of the bestselling
authors of the late Victorian period, Smiles
advocated social advancement through
the virtuous acts of hard work, thrift
and sobriety. He can even be seen as the
forerunner of the various self-help guides
16 | WellcomeNews | Issue 65
JoeBiafore/iStockphoto
you find today. Even Fire & Sword in the Sudan and With Kitchener
in Wellcome’s gift of to Khartoum – two titles on the British
1911 – Cassell’s Book Army’s derring-do in Sudan in the late
of Sports and Pastimes 19th century.
– there is a sense of Of the more famous works of literature
practicality. This title Wellcome gave, Henry Longfellow’s
(below)was full of romanticised poem of Native American
advice on making,
mending and
healthy pursuits, His choice of Gulliver’s Travels
which suggested
is more intriguing: perhaps
to the staff as they
unwrapped their Wellcome saw in Gulliver’s
gifts that even their
adventures a lone individual
spare time should
be spent in a useful, pulling himself through against
practical manner.
difficult odds?
Another clear
theme in Wellcome’s
choices is his growing interest in Africa. life, The Song of Haiwatha, is suggestive of
By 1914, he had not only opened the Wellcome’s childhood in rural Minnesota,
groundbreaking Wellcome Tropical growing up close to the Sioux. His choice
Research Laboratory in Khartoum but of Gulliver’s Travels is more intriguing:
also carried out extensive archaeological perhaps Wellcome saw in Gulliver’s
excavations in Sudan (both adventures a lone individual pulling
activities he felt had practical himself through against
philanthropic benefits to difficult odds?
the local populations). So, Henry Wellcome’s
This interest in choice of gift does offer a
Africa comes through degree of insight into his
in his 1914 gift, The interests and attitudes, and
Autobiography of Sir also how he wished to be
Henry Stanley, edited perceived. His selections are
by Dorothy Stanley very much of their time – as
(Henry Stanley the are, however, his thoughts on
journalist and explorer his staff. In 1910, Wellcome
– another self-made chose Charles Darwin’s The
man – was a close friend Voyage of the Beagle. But he
of Wellcome’s). It’s also chose it for male employees;
evident in two other women received copies of the
choices from the 1890s: Encyclopaedia of Needlework.
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20–25 9–11
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GC: Event takes place at the Wellcome
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