Anne McLaren 1927–2007

This had been a celebratory year for Anne McLaren. In April, her 80th birthday was marked in Cambridge, UK by a special symposium in her honor on germ cells and stem cells, two subjects very close to her heart and the main themes of her research endeavors throughout her career. Many of her colleagues and friends from all over the world gathered to participate in lively scientific sessions, great dinners, and a few speeches in praise of Anne that even she seemed to enjoy. In May, she was awarded, jointly with Janet Rossant, the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, an accolade in recognition of her outstanding contribution to mouse genetics, embryology, and reproductive biology (see the figure). And then in June, Anne arrived at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as a lecturer for the renowned " Mouse Course " (Course on Molecular Embryology of the Mouse), which she had enthusiastically devoted her time to almost every year since its inception. At the special symposium to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Mouse Course, Anne talked fondly about her plans for more globetrotting in the coming months, for both science and pleasure. Sadly, all this came to an abrupt halt because of a fatal road accident on July 7th, which took Anne away from us. Anne's scientific achievements are truly outstanding. She was able to cut through the chaff to pin down the critical questions, to appreciate the long-term commitment of working on difficult problems, and to recognize the importance of an unexpected result. Through these approaches, whether adopted by herself or encouraged in those around her, Anne had a positive and enduring influence across many topics in biology. Anne started hitting the headlines in the 1950s with her PhD research conducted at Oxford University on neurotropic viruses and how they gain access to the nervous system. This research was particularly timely given that polio was epidemic in the UK at that time. But it is her subsequent work on mouse genetics and development for which she is now universally recognized and which has had the biggest impact not only on science but also on society. During the latter part of the 1950s, first in the Zoology Department at University College, London and then in London's Royal Veterinary College, Anne became interested in the role of the environment in determining pheno-typic traits in mice. For example, she looked at …