David Lorn Garbers (March 17, 1944 – September 5, 2006) was an American scientist who primarily researched reproductive biology, particularly the communication between

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

and

sperm Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive Cell (biology), cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm ...

cells. In 1993, he was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

Early life and education

David Lorn Garbers was born on March 17, 1944, in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 202 ...

, where he grew up on his family's farm. His parents were Florence and Wilfred Garbers. After graduating from West Salem High School, he attended the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

for his undergraduate, receiving a bachelor's in animal science in 1966. He stayed at the University of Wisconsin for a master's in reproductive biology (1970), and a PhD in biochemistry (1972). His PhD advisor was Henry A. Lardy. He then conducted post-doctoral research at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Career

After his post-doc, Garbers was hired as an assistant professor of physiology at Vanderbilt in 1974; he became a full professor in 1982. In 1976, he accepted a position as an investigator at

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

in Dallas. In 1990 he was hired as a professor of pharmacology at the

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient ...

, and in 1999 was appointed the director of the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences. He succeeded

Joseph F. Hoffman Joseph Frederick Hoffman (March 7, 1925 – May 19, 2022) was an American scientist who primary researched the physiology of red blood cells. His research accomplishments were recognized in 1981 when he was elected to the National Academy of Scie ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the peer-reviewed journal the ''

Annual Review of Physiology The ''Annual Review of Physiology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about physiology. First published in 1939 through a collaboration between the American Physiological Society and Annual Reviews (publisher), Ann ...

'' after he left the position in 2005. His tenure as editor was brief due to his sudden death the following year. Much of Garbers's research centered on the mechanisms of communication between

egg cell The egg cell or ovum (: ova) is the female Reproduction, reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female game ...

s and

sperm cell Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail k ...

s. One of Garbers's key findings in reproductive biology was that caffeine stimulated hyperactive

motility Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently using metabolism, metabolic energy. This biological concept encompasses movement at various levels, from whole organisms to cells and subcellular components. Motility is observed in ...

in mammalian sperm cells by elevating

cyclic adenosine monophosphate Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP, cyclic AMP, or 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate) is a second messenger, or cellular signal occurring within cells, that is important in many biological processes. cAMP is a derivative of adenosine tri ...

(cAMP). He also discovered that

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

eggs release

peptide Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty am ...

s into the ocean that stimulate sperm motility. The peptides also served as

chemoattractant Chemotaxis (from '' chemo-'' + ''taxis'') is the movement of an organism or entity in response to a chemical stimulus. Somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell or multicellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemica ...

s, drawing the sperm to the eggs, by elevating cellular levels of

cyclic guanosine monophosphate Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is a cyclic nucleotide derived from guanosine triphosphate (GTP). cGMP acts as a second messenger much like cyclic AMP. Its most likely mechanism of action is activation of intracellular protein kinases in ...

(cGMP).

Awards and honors

Garbers was elected as a member of several scientific societies, including the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1992 and the

in 1993. Garbers was inducted to the West Salem High School Alumni Hall of Fame in 2023.

Personal life and death

David Garbers was first married to Laureen O. Krueger in 1967. He later married Marilyn Kay Hanson in 1974. They had two children together. Garbers died at age sixty-two of a heart attack on September 5, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garbers, David 1944 births 2006 deaths People from La Crosse, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Vanderbilt University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Howard Hughes Medical Investigators University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center faculty Annual Reviews (publisher) editors