When Perry Hackett reflects on a career spanning more than four decades, he describes it as “the best time a scientist could ever live.” Having come of age during the launch of Sputnik and the first moon landing, Hackett didn't just witness the golden age of scientific discovery; he helped build it. This January, he retired as a professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, leaving behind a legacy that bridges the gap between ancient evolutionary biology and cutting-edge cancer therapy. Hackett’s journey has brought potential life-saving treatments to patients and led to the founding of companies that apply cutting-edge science to improving human health and the environment.
The "best Minnesota fish story" ever
Hackett is perhaps best known for the Sleeping Beauty Transposon, a gene transfer system that is used to reprogram animal cells without using viruses. Sleeping Beauty is in clinical trials to engineer the human immune system to find and attack cancer cells. Up to 80 percent of people who receive immuno-therapies based on these technologies experience disease remission or complete recovery.
The breakthrough originated during "The Big Fish" project, an initiative funded by the state of Minnesota in 1985 to boost game fish populations. While conducting research, Hackett’s team created ("awakened") a synthetic version of a genetic sequence — a transposon — that had been dormant in fish genomes for over 10 million years.
“It’s been the best Minnesota fish story ever,” Hackett says. The resulting technology led to a licensing agreement valued at more than $100 million — one of the most significant technology transfer agreements in the University of Minnesota’s history. In 2017, Hackett received the University’s Impact Award for this groundbreaking work.
From prodigy to professor
Hackett’s obsession with the lab began as a high school senior in Palo Alto, CA. Under Stanford professor Philip Hanawalt, Hackett worked nights and weekends on DNA repair. He published his first peer-reviewed paper, “Selectivity for thymine over 5-bromouracil,” in 1966 as a Stanford sophomore. "My name was listed first," he recalls. "That was a pretty incredible start."
He brought that same rigor to the University of Minnesota, where he became a legendary instructor. David Largaespada, now a professor in the University’s Medical School and deputy director for the Masonic Cancer Center, remembers the buzz around Hackett’s recombinant DNA lab. “I first met Perry when I was a CBS undergrad as a genetics and cell biology major,” he recalls. “His recombinant DNA lab was so popular that even other faculty were taking the course. That’s where I learned how to clone genes.“
These days, their relationship has developed into one between collaborators, friends and business colleagues, Largaespada says. “I’ve had a great career and enjoyed success in functional genomics in no small part because of his influence on me. It’s sad to see him leave the University, but he’s had this huge impact that’s going to last.”
Planting seeds for the future
That impact continues to play out in a number of ways, including with a business-focused seminar he helped establish. “I’ve always wanted to help students see that biotechnology could be a fun and exciting career,” he says. “And I wanted to help CBS as best I could, so I asked myself, ‘What can I do?’”
Thinking back to the early opportunities he had during his undergraduate days, Hackett helped begin the Walleye Tank, a competition for postdocs and graduate students who wanted to start a business. That led to the creation of a course, “What do you need to start a biotech company?” a popular seminar about the business side of science, including pathways to finance companies based on new scientific discoveries.
Despite the lab-based nature of his discipline, Hackett didn’t hesitate to make his way north to Itasca Biological Station to teach. He was a regular instructor for nearly two decades at Nature of Life, the first stop for College of Biological Sciences students on their collegiate journey. He also taught graduate students at Itasca over the years.
“I started as a guest of Jim Curtsinger in 1984, teaching a DNA module for his ecological genetics course. We had nightly seminars with guest presenters,” he recalls. “I loved going up there because it was such a pure academic setting, with no distractions — no TV, no smartphones. People had to sit and talk with each other.”
A living legacy
When asked about his legacy, Hackett is mindful that all of his accomplishments are the result of lab members who brought their insights and energies to solving scientific questions. He is characteristically humble, citing John Keats’ epitaph: “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.” He insists his legacy is in those who were associated with his lab and continue to work on important scientific questions. “My life is about living right now.”
However, his friend and former UMN colleague Stephen Ekker, now an associate dean at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, sees it differently. Ekker views Hackett as a rare visionary.
“I’m always on the lookout for future Perry Hacketts — people who are willing to plant trees whose shade they may not enjoy. That’s who Perry has been to the University, and the world is a better place for it.”
Hackett may humbly claim his name is ‘writ in water,’ but his long list of accomplishments suggests a living legacy that will continue long after his retirement. –Julie Kendrick