George D. Snell

George D. Snell married Rhoda Carson and the couple had three sons, namely, Thomas, Roy and Peter.

He came from a family that was inclined towards music. His mother played the piano and everyone in the family enjoyed singing. His wife was also a pianist.

He died on 6 June 1996 at Bar Harbor, Maine, at the age of 92.

George Davis Snell was born on 19 December 1903 at Bradford, Massachusetts. His father worked as a secretary at a local YMCA. George had two older siblings.

His family shifted to Brookline in Massachusetts when he was four years old. He completed his school education at public schools in Brookline.

He was interested in mathematics and science from a young age. Other than that he also spent time reading books on astronomy and physics. He was also involved in sports like scrub baseball and football.

In 1922, he enrolled in the Dartmouth College, New Hampshire and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1926. While in college, he studied a course in genetics that encouraged him to pursue the same as a career.

He enrolled at the Harvard University and studied under geneticist William Ernest Castle. He earned his PhD in genetics from Harvard University in 1930. He did his doctoral thesis on genetic linkage in mice.

George D. Snell started his career as teacher at Brown University, Rhode Island between 1930 and 1931.

In 1931, he obtained a National Research Council Fellowship and spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas with geneticist H.J. Muller. Along with Muller, he studied the genetic effects of x-rays on mice.

In 1933, he took up a post of assistant professor at the Washington State University in St. Louis. He worked there for a year.

In 1935, he joined the Jackson laboratory in Bar Harbour, Maine and remained there until his retirement as senior staff scientist emeritus in 1973. Jackson laboratory was considered an international hub for mouse genetics.

Starting in mid-1940s, for a period of thirty years he was engaged in studying the congenic resistant strain trap of mice. He also focused on studying the genetics of transplantation.

George D. Snell was a geneticist whose studies focused around mouse genetics and transplantation. His extended study regarding the immune system of mice resulted in better understanding on the role of genes, tissues and organ transplants and infectious diseases in immune reactions.