Konrad Basler
Konrad Basler (* 1960 ) is a Swiss molecular biologist and developmental biologist .
Basler received his doctorate in zoology from the University of Zurich in 1989 . As a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University from 1990 to 1993, he was an assistant professor at the University of Zurich, where he became a full professor of molecular biology in 1999.
He investigates how signal proteins of the body of the transforming growth factor , tumor necrosis factor , hedgehog and Wnt type , which also play a role that has been conserved in evolution in morphogenesis , control embryonic development. He conducts research on the classic experimental animal of the geneticist Drosophila .
Basler received the Louis Jeantet Prize from the Louis Jeantet Foundation in 2000 for the simple procedure developed by him and Gary Struhl (Columbia University, New York) to genetically reprogram cells in the embryonic development of Drosophila into organizer cells and to prove their existence of morphogens , which have long been postulated as substances, the concentration of which provides the positional information necessary for the site-specific differentiation of cells during embryonic development. Examples are the morphogens of the Hedgehog or Wnt type, and Basler was able to show that these play a role in the development of wings and legs in Drosophila.
Since misdirected functions of many of these signaling pathways play a major role in tumor development, his investigations also had an impact on cancer research.
In 2006 he and his group were able to demonstrate that parafibromine plays an important role in the Wnt signaling pathway (it binds to β-catenin , a central substance in the Wnt signaling pathway). The researchers hope that this will lead to advances in the development of therapies, for example against colon cancer, in which faulty triggering of the Wnt signaling pathway plays a role.
In 1996 he received the Friedrich Miescher Prize and in 1997 the (Swiss) National Latsis Prize . Since 2000 he has been a member of the Academia Europaea .
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ For example, a lot of knowledge about the Wnt signaling pathway in humans could be gained from Drosophila, since this signal cascade is very similar in flies and humans
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Basler, Konrad |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss molecular biologist and developmental biologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1960 |