Bernardus Johannes Godefridus Scheres (Ben) Scheres (born 10 July 1960 in

Echt Echt may refer to: * Echt, Aberdeenshire, a village in Scotland * Echt-Susteren, a municipality in the Netherlands ** Echt, Netherlands Echt (; ) is a city in the Dutch municipality of Echt-Susteren in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. ...

) is a Dutch

developmental biologist Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of stem ce ...

. He is Professor of Plant Developmental Biology at

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

. Scheres studied phytopathology at Wageningen University, where he received his doctorate in 1990. After a post-doctoral period at the Laboratory of Genetics in Ghent, he became a lecturer at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, where he became Professor of Plant Developmental Biology in 1999 and Professor of Molecular Genetics in 2005. Scheres studies the developmental biology of plants and compares them to that of animals, discovering many similarities. He used the thale cress as a test plant. Among other things, he discovered the role of stem cells in the growth and shape development of roots. He specifically switched off individual cells with a laser and blocked individual genes in order to explore their role in development. In 2000 he received the Siron Pelton Prize from the American Botanical Society. In 2004 he became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. In 2006 he received the

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...

. In 2007 he was elected to the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 1,800 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

. He received the prize for young chemists from the Dutch research organization NWO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheres, Ben 1960 births Living people People from Echt-Susteren Academic staff of Utrecht University Academic staff of Wageningen University and Research Developmental biologists Dutch biologists Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Spinoza Prize winners