Behind the bench... with Dr. Warren Leonard

Serendipity and the Prepared Mind: An NHLBI Intramural Researcher’s Breakthrough Observations

During an 1854 lecture at the University of Lille, French microbiologist and chemist Louis Pasteur said, “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.”

I was reminded of Pasteur’s quote when I spoke with Dr. Warren Leonard, chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and director of the Immunology Center at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. When Dr. Leonard and his team began studying the basic aspects of the interleukin-2 receptor, their research into IL-2 led them to the realization that mutations of the gamma chain of the receptor resulted in X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency in humans, aka, the Bubble Boy Disease. It was a connection they unexpectedly discovered a couple of years ahead of people who were working on that issue in a directed fashion.

Dr. Leonard’s research reinforces the importance of pursuing fundamental discovery science in biologically important areas, as this research often plays a pivotal role in leading researchers down new pathways of discovery that result in innovative treatments and therapeutics. Read full message and listen to the podcasts…