Professor Ashworth featured in top journal

Professor Ashworth tells the stories behind his greatest achievements in the Nature piece. These include cloning the BRCA2 gene in 1995, and proving that breast cancer cells could be killed by the drug olaparib. This drug, known as a PARP inhibitor, has shown great promise in clinical trials in targeting cancer cells with faulty BRCA genes.
 
He talks about his passion for translating basic research into results for patients as quickly as possible.

Professor Ashworth said: “It is a fantastic feeling to think that the work you’ve done in the lab can actually have an output in patients, and I think many other people want to feel like that.”

He imagines a future in which all tumours are targeted according to their precise genetic characteristics, a vision that many researchers are now working towards.

* Nature, Vol 463, 28 January 2010.