Asifa Akhtar is a Pakistani biologist who has made significant contributions to the field of

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

regulation. She is Senior Group Leader and Director of the Department of

Chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...

Regulation at the

Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics The Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie und Epigenetik'') in Freiburg, Germany is an interdisciplinary research institute that conducts basic research in modern immunobiology, dev ...

. Akhtar was awarded

EMBO Embo ( gd, Eurabol, IPA: �iaɾəpɔɫ̪ is a village in the Highland Council Area in Scotland and the former postal county of Sutherland, about north-northeast of Dornoch. On 16 July 1988, Embo declared itself independent from the rest of the ...

membership in 2013. She became the first international and female Vice President of the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...

's Biology and Medicine Section in July 2020.

Academic career

Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Asifa Akhtar studied for a BSc in biology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, moving to the

Imperial Cancer Research Fund Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

(now part of the

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Impe ...

) to gain a PhD for studying

transcriptional regulation In molecular biology and genetics, transcriptional regulation is the means by which a cell regulates the conversion of DNA to RNA (transcription), thereby orchestrating gene activity. A single gene can be regulated in a range of ways, from alt ...

in the lab of Richard Treisman. Akhtar's postdoctoral studies in

chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...

regulation were carried out in Peter Becker’s lab Germany, at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg and the Adolf Butenandt Institute, Munich. Akhtar became a group leader at

EMBL The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to molecular biology research and is supported by 27 member states, two prospect states, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in 1974 and ...

in 2001, moving to the

, Freiburg in 2009, where she heads the Akhtar lab. Akhtar is an editor of the

Journal of Cell Science The ''Journal of Cell Science'' (formerly the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of cell biology. The journal is published by The Company of Biologists. The journal is partnered with P ...

. On July 1, 2020, she was elected Vice President of the

's Biology and Medicine Section.

Research interests

Asifa Akhtar’s research focus is the study of

and

epigenetic In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "o ...

mechanisms. Using

Drosophila melanogaster ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Ch ...

as an experimental model, Akhtar investigates how

dosage compensation Dosage compensation is the process by which organisms equalize the expression of genes between members of different biological sexes. Across species, different sexes are often characterized by different types and numbers of sex chromosomes. In order ...

acts in regulation of the

X chromosome The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes (allosomes) in many organisms, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome), and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO sex-d ...

. Studies have also focused on how the nuclear RNA helicase, DHX9, protects the

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

from deleterious effects of

transposon A transposable element (TE, transposon, or jumping gene) is a nucleic acid sequence in DNA that can change its position within a genome, sometimes creating or reversing mutations and altering the cell's genetic identity and genome size. Transpo ...

insertion. More recently Akhtar has investigated how

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

fidelity is affected by changes in the

nucleosome A nucleosome is the basic structural unit of DNA packaging in eukaryotes. The structure of a nucleosome consists of a segment of DNA wound around eight histone proteins and resembles thread wrapped around a spool. The nucleosome is the fundamen ...

landscape.

Awards and honours

* 2008 Akhtar was the recipient of the early career European Life Science Organization Award. * 2013 Akhtar was awarded

membership. * 2017 Akhtar was awarded the

Feldberg Prize The Feldberg Foundation promotes scientific exchange between German and British scientists in the field of experimental medical research. The foundation is registered in Hamburg, Germany with the secretariat based in the UK. The pharmacologist Wil ...

. * 2021 Akhtar was awarded the

Leibniz Prize The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (german: link=no, Förderpreis für deutsche Wissenschaftler im Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft), in short Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to ...

. * In 2019 she became a member of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

References

External links

Asifa Akhtar
the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhtar, Asifa Alumni of University College London European Molecular Biology Organization Max Planck Institute directors 21st-century Pakistani scientists Pakistani women scientists Epigeneticists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Women geneticists Francis Crick Institute alumni Pakistani geneticists Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina