and Itakura, the group successfully produced the hormone Somatostatin in 1977 as a proof of concept before they attempted to work with the more complicated insulin molecule. They were able to link somatostatin to a larger protein, beta-galactosidase, produce it in E. coli, isolate it, and then separate the somatostatin from the galactosidase. Somatostatin was the first mammalian hormone to be produced in a bacterium. Next, the group produced a synthetic gene coding for human insulin, one that was about ten times larger than the somatostatin encoding. They succeeded in producing artificial insulin in 1978. In 1979, Riggs received the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Research Award for this work. DNA methylation, epigenetics and antibody engineering In 1973, Riggs hypothesized that X chromosome inactivation might act in ways analogous to restriction enzyme complexes such as E. coli. He eventually published a theoretical paper on the topic that correctly predicted a key mechanism for DNA methylation epigenetics. Through ongoing research he has helped to understand the mechanisms of DNA methylation and gene regulation. In the 1980s, Riggs became convinced that the type of splicing approach used with recombinant DNA also could be used to produce antibodies. Riggs worked with Shmuel Cabilly on "fundamental technology required for the artificial synthesis of antibody molecules." Once again, Riggs and his group characterized the genes for antibodies and cloned them into bacteria. They were able to describe and patent a method for making humanized monoclonal antibodies, using mouse antibodies. They created a gene sequence that would "trick" or induce bacteria into manufacturing humanized antibodies rather than mouse antibodies. This technology has been used to produce "smart" cancer drugs such as Herceptin, Rituxan and Avastin. In 2009, Riggs published on studies conducted with Gerd Pfeifer on the "methylome" of the genome of a human B cell, examining the DNA methylation pattern of the entire genome in an attempt to find patterns of the epigenetic mark 5-methylcytosine. DNA methylation is believed to pass information from parent cells to daughter cells, functioning as a secondary, high-fidelity information encoding system. The blood donated for the isolation of the B cells was that of Riggs himself. "It could have been anyone's DNA, but as a pioneer in DNA methylation epigenetics, there is something special to me about it being my methylome". Riggs continued to work on the epigenetic programming of the cell, designing proteins that can bind to DNA in highly specified