Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard(1942 — ?)
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
Allemagne
6 min read
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard is a German biologist born in 1942, a specialist in developmental genetics. Her work on the fruit fly (Drosophila) revealed how genes control the formation of the embryo. She received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on October 20, 1942, in Magdeburg, Germany
- With Eric Wieschaus, identified the genes controlling the embryonic development of Drosophila (work published in 1980)
- Received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995, shared with Eric Wieschaus and Edward B. Lewis
- First German woman to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences
- Heads the genetics department of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen
Works & Achievements
A systematic search for the genes controlling segmentation of the fruit fly embryo. This method, which involved examining countless mutants, revolutionized the study of development.
A landmark publication identifying 15 genes that govern the body plan of the larva. It is one of the most cited papers in developmental biology.
Demonstration that a protein distributed in a gradient tells each cell its position within the embryo. The first concrete proof of the concept of a morphogen.
Extension of her method to a vertebrate with transparent embryos. This work made the zebrafish an essential model animal in biology.
Awarded together with Eric Wieschaus and Edward Lewis for understanding the genetic control of early embryonic development.
A foundation she created to provide financial support for young German women researchers with children. It aims to keep talented women from leaving science.
A popular science book in which she explains how, starting from a single cell, genes build an entire organism.
Anecdotes
To discover which genes shape the embryo, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and her colleague Eric Wieschaus spent nearly a year hunched over a double-headed microscope that let them observe the same larva at the same time. They examined tens of thousands of mutant fly larvae to spot those whose bodies were poorly segmented. This patient work earned them the Nobel Prize in 1995.
Whenever the team found a new gene, it had to be given a name. One mutant larva, short and bristling with tiny spikes, looked like a hedgehog, so the gene responsible was christened “hedgehog.” The playful name stuck and today refers to a very important family of genes, found in human beings too.
In 1995, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard became the first German woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She shared it with Eric Wieschaus and Edward Lewis, honored for working out how genes direct the very first stages of an embryo's development.
Having watched many talented young women researchers leave science after becoming mothers, in 2004 she set up a foundation bearing her name. It gives money to young German scientists with children to help them pay for childcare or household help and to keep up their research.
After her discoveries about the fruit fly, she wanted to study an animal closer to humans, one with a backbone. She chose the zebrafish, whose embryos are transparent: under the microscope you can literally watch the organs form day after day.
Primary Sources
In systematic searches for embryonic lethal mutants of Drosophila melanogaster we have identified 15 loci which when mutated alter the segmental pattern of the larva.
The bicoid morphogen is distributed in a concentration gradient from the front of the embryo, and it is this local concentration that tells each cell where it is located and what it must become.
The prize is awarded for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development.
Understanding how a single fertilized cell becomes a complete living being is one of the most fascinating questions in biology.
Key Places
City where Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard was born in 1942. Her family later moved to Frankfurt.
City where she grew up and began her biology studies at university. It was there that her passion for living things was born.
International research center where she carried out, together with Eric Wieschaus, the great genetic screen of the fruit fly in the late 1970s.
University where she earned her degree in biochemistry and then her doctorate in 1974.
Institute of which she became director in 1985 and where she pursued her research on the fruit fly and later the zebrafish.
Swedish capital where she received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in December 1995.