Eric Francis Wieschaus | |
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 Eric F. Wieschaus in 2011 | |
| Born | (1947-06-08)June 8, 1947 (age 78) South Bend, Indiana, U.S. |
| Education | University of Notre Dame(B.S.) Yale University(Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Embryogenesis |
| Awards | Genetics Society of America Medal(1995) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine(1995) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Developmental biology |
| Institutions | Princeton University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
Eric Francis Wieschaus (born June 8, 1947, inSouth Bend, Indiana) is an Americanevolutionary developmental biologist and 1995 Nobel Prize-winner.
Born inSouth Bend, Indiana, he attendedJohn Carroll Catholic High School inBirmingham, Alabama before attending theUniversity of Notre Dame for his undergraduate studies (B.S., biology), andYale University (Ph.D., biology) for his graduate work.
In 1978, he moved to his first independent job, at theEuropean Molecular Biology Laboratory inHeidelberg,Germany and moved from Heidelberg toPrinceton University in theUnited States in 1981.[1][2]
Much of his research has focused onembryogenesis in the fruit flyDrosophila melanogaster, specifically in the patterning that occurs in the earlyDrosophila embryo. Most of the gene products used by the embryo at these stages are already present in the unfertilized egg and were produced by maternal transcription duringoogenesis. A small number of gene products, however, are supplied by transcription in the embryo itself. He has focused on these"zygotically" active genes because he believes the temporal and spatial pattern of their transcription may provide the triggers controlling the normal sequence of embryonic development. Saturation of all the possible mutations on each chromosome by random events to test embryonic lethality was done by Eric Wieschaus.[3] This body of science eventually was termed theHeidelberg screen.[2][4]
In 1995, he was awarded theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine withEdward B. Lewis andChristiane Nüsslein-Volhard as co-recipients, for their work revealing the genetic control of embryonic development.[5][6][7][8]
As of 2018, Wieschaus is theSquibb Professor inMolecular Biology at Princeton.[9] He was formerly Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry at theUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey –Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
He has three daughters and is married to molecular biologistGertrud Schüpbach, who is also a professor ofMolecular Biology atPrinceton University, working onDrosophila oogenesis.[citation needed]
Wieschaus is an atheist and is one of the 77 Nobel Laureates who signed the 2007 petition to repeal theLouisiana Science Education Act.[10][11]
including the Nobel Lecture on December 8, 1995From Molecular Patterns to Morphogenesis: The Lessons from Drosophila| International | |
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