Walter Jakob Gehring (1939-2014)
نویسندگان
چکیده
Walter Jakob Gehring [3] discovered the homeobox [4], a DNA segment found in a specific cluster of genes [5] that determine the body plan of animals, plants, and fungi. Gehring identified the homeobox [4] in 1983, with the help of colleagues while isolating the Antennapedia (Antp) gene in fruit flies (Drosophila [6]) at the University of Basel [7] in Basel, Switzerland. Hox genes [8], a family of genes [5] that contain the homeobox [4] sequence, determine the head-to-tail (anterior-posterior) body axis of both vertebrates and invertebrates. Gehring also identified the homeobox [4]-containing Pax-6 gene as the master control gene in eye development of Drosophila [9], the same gene that, when mutated or absent in humans [10], leads to aniridia, or lack of the iris, in humans [10]. Gehring's work with the homeobox [4] suggested to biologists that widely different species share a similar and evolutionarily conserved genetic pathway that controls the development of overall body plans, from fruit flies to humans [10].
منابع مشابه
Obituary: Walter J. Gehring (1939-2014).
Alex Schier looks back at the life and research of his graduate mentor and friend Walter Gehring.
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Developmental biologists eagerly desired to understand the molecular basis of development. The discovery of the Homeo domain in homeotic genes in Drosophila provided the means whereby a new era dawned in the field. Walter Gehring and his colleagues stunned the scientific world by identifying this 60-amino acid domain with DNA binding activity [1]. Soon, homeobox-containing genes were found in a...
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