Lap-Chee Tsui is most recognized for leading the team that, in 1989, found the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis (called CFTR, for cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator gene). The large team involved the laboratories at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children of Tsui, Jack Riordan, and Manuel Buchwald, and spanned the border to the University of Michigan laboratory of Francis Collins (now Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute of NIH). By today's perspective, reports of gene discovery may seem so commonplace as to be taken for granted; however, this discovery was noteworthy for two reasons. It was the first success of the approach known as positional cloning, meaning that it was found, not because of any clues about its function, but merely by knowing its location and a little about its genetic neighbors. Second, cystic fibrosis is the most common single-gene disease among Caucasians, with symptoms usually starting in...