Varmus, Harold

Varmus, Harold (Elliot)

(born Dec. 18, 1939, Oceanside, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. virologist. He joined the faculty of UC–San Francisco in 1970. With J. Michael Bishop, he discovered that, under certain circumstances, normal genes in healthy body cells can cause cancer. These oncogenes ordinarily control cell division and growth, but viruses or carcinogens can activate them. Their research superseded a theory that cancer is caused by viral genes, distinct from a cell's normal genetic material, that lie dormant until activated by carcinogens. For their work, the two shared a 1989 Nobel Prize. Varmus later served as director of the National Institutes of Health (1993–99) and became president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.