J. Michael Bishop, who illuminated genetic roots of cancer, dies at 90

"Dr. Bishop and Varmus showed that oncogenes - genes that cause cancer - are not foreign genes introduced into the body by viruses, as was widely believed at the time. Instead, normal versions of oncogenes are present in healthy cells, where they help regulate normal growth."

"In his playfully titled 2003 memoir, 'How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science,' Dr. Bishop wrote about their bond over a shared infatuation with science, as well as with words and language."

J. Michael Bishop, a prominent microbiologist and Nobel Prize laureate, passed away at the age of 90 due to pneumonia. He began his education in a rural Pennsylvania schoolhouse and developed an interest in science through a family doctor. Bishop's significant contributions to cancer research were made during his tenure at the University of California at San Francisco, where he collaborated with Harold E. Varmus. Their work revealed that oncogenes are normal genes in healthy cells, challenging previous beliefs about cancer's genetic origins.

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