About UCSF

About UCSF > Singular Achievements

  • First to discover that normal cellular genes can be converted to cancer genes (Nobel Prize in Medicine, J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus, 1989)
  • First to discover (together with Stanford) the techniques of recombinant DNA, the seminal step in the creation of the biotechnology industry
  • First to discover the precise recombinant DNA techniques that led to the creation of a hepatitis B vaccine
  • First to perform a successful surgery on a baby still in the mother's womb
  • First to clone an insulin gene in yeast, leading to the mass production of recombinant human insulin to treat diabetes
  • First to synthesize human growth hormone and clone into bacteria, setting the stage for genetically engineered human growth hormone
  • First to develop prenatal tests for sickle cell anemia and thalassemia
  • First to train pharmacists as drug therapy specialists
  • First to establish special care units for AIDS patients and among the first to identify HIV as the causative agent of the disease
  • First to discover and name prions (PREE-ons), an infectious agent that is responsible for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases (Nobel Prize in Medicine, Stanley Prusiner, 1997)
  • First to develop catheter ablation therapy for tachycardia, which cures "racing" hearts without surgery
  • First university west of the Mississippi to offer a doctoral degree in nursing
  • First to discover that a missing substance called surfactant is the culprit in the deaths of newborns with respiratory distress syndrome; first to develop a synthetic substitute for surfactant, reducing infant death rates significantly