Gertrud Schüpbach

Trudi Schüpbach (born Zurich, Switzerland, February 3, 1950; full name Gertrud M. Schüpbach; published name Trudi Schüpbach) is a Swiss-American molecular biologist. She is an Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, where her laboratory studies molecular and genetic mechanisms in fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) oogenesis.

Research

Schüpbach's research focuses on signaling pathways that are involved in pattern formation during embryonic development. Using the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) as a model system, she revealed molecular mechanisms underlying the determination of the major axis of the embryo. Performing genetic screens, she identified mutants that result in female sterility of which many affect embryonic body patterning.[1] By that, she contributed to the understanding of maternal factors that are deposited into the forming egg during oogenesis and that are conferred into spatial information within the developing embryo to demarcate distinct functional regions.[2]

Life

Schüpbach received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where she also performed her first postdoctoral work before she continued as a postdoc at Princeton University. In 1990 she was appointed as Associate Professor and promoted to Full Professor in 1994 at Princeton University. Schüpbach is married to Nobel laureate and fellow biologist Eric F. Wieschaus.[3]

Honors

1981 Alfred Schlafli Prize for thesis research awarded by Swiss Zoological Society
1999 Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2000 Elected Associate Member European Molecular Biology Organization
2005 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
2006 Edwin F. Conklin Medal, Society for Developmental Biology
2007 Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2011 Honorary Degree, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Trivia

Genetic screenings for maternal effect "grandchildless" mutants resulted in the identification of a set of genes that are essential for the patterning of the egg and developing embryo. Many of the affected genes were named by Trudi Schüpbach after royal dynasties that extinguished due to the lack of offspring such as staufen, vasa, valois and tudor.

References

Schupbach, Trudi; Wieschaus, Eric (February 1, 1986). "Germline autonomy of maternal-effect mutations altering the embryonic body pattern of Drosophila". Developmental Biology. 113 (2): 443–448. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(86)90179-X. ISSN 0012-1606. PMID 3081391.
Stein, David S.; Stevens, Leslie M. (2014). "Maternal control of the Drosophila dorsal-ventral body axis". Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology. 3 (5): 301–330. doi:10.1002/wdev.138. PMC 4724419. PMID 25124754.
The Trustees of Princeton University. "Princeton University, Department of Molecular Biology: Gertrud M. Schüpbach". Archived from the original on December 12, 2019.

External links

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[1] Schupbach, Trudi; Wieschaus, Eric (February 1, 1986). "Germline autonomy of maternal-effect mutations altering the embryonic body pattern of Drosophila". Developmental Biology. 113 (2): 443–448. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(86)90179-X. ISSN 0012-1606. PMID 3081391.

[2] Stein, David S.; Stevens, Leslie M. (2014). "Maternal control of the Drosophila dorsal-ventral body axis". Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology. 3 (5): 301–330. doi:10.1002/wdev.138. PMC 4724419. PMID 25124754.

[3] The Trustees of Princeton University. "Princeton University, Department of Molecular Biology: Gertrud M. Schüpbach". Archived from the original on December 12, 2019.