Denis Duboule (born February 17, 1955) is a Swiss-French biologist. He earned his PhD in Biology in 1984 and is currently Professor of Developmental Genetics and Genomics at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and at the Department of Genetics and Evolution of the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

. Since 2001, he is the Director of the Swiss National Research Center "Frontiers in Genetics" and since 2017, he is also a professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

. He has notably worked on

Hox gene Hox genes, a subset of homeobox genes, are a group of related genes that specify regions of the body plan of an embryo along the head-tail axis of animals. Hox proteins encode and specify the characteristics of 'position', ensuring that the cor ...

s, a group of genes involved in the formation of the body plan and of the limbs.

Biography

Denis Duboule obtained a PhD from the University of Geneva in 1984. After questioning Karl Illmensee's claims of having cloned a mouse, Duboule departed to work as a post-doc and then a group leader at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, with

Pierre Chambon Pierre Chambon (born 7 February 1931 in Mulhouse, France) was the founder of the in Strasbourg, France. He was one of the leading molecular biologists who utilized gene cloning and sequencing technology to first decipher the structure of eukaryot ...

. In 1988, he became a group leader at the

European Molecular Biology Laboratory 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 Heidelberg, Germany. In 1992, he obtained a tenure at the

Geneva University The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

. From 1997, he has headed the Department of Genetics and Evolution (formerly Zoology and Animal Biology) Since 2001, he has also chaired the NCCR Frontiers in Genetics and, since 2006, he is a full professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).Denis Duboule
uni-goettingen.de In 2017, he was elected professor at the

, holding the international chair in genome evolution and development. He is a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

, a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

, and an occasional columnist in the "Sciences and environment" section of the newspaper ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

''.

Scientific contributions

Denis Duboule has a longstanding interest in the function and regulation of Hox genes, a family of genes responsible for the organization and evolution of animal body plans. These genes have been a paradigm to understand embryonic patterning, in developmental, evolutionary and pathological contexts. Denis Duboule's contributions are thus in the field of vertebrate developmental genetics with some interface with medical genetics and evolutionary biology. Since 1985, he reported several discoveries related to the biology of homeobox genes, in particular concerning the Hox gene family. A brief account can be found in the article "The Hox complex"

Honours

* Elected member of

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 ...

(1993) * National Latsis Prize (1994) * Elected member of the Academia Europaea (1997) *

Cloëtta Prize The Cloëtta Prize (german: Cloëtta-Preis; french: Prix Cloëtta) is a Swiss distinction to honour personalities who have distinguished themselves in biomedical research. Worth 50,000 Swiss francs, it has been awarded annually by the Max Clo� ...

for Medicine (1997) *

Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine Established in 1986, the Louis-Jeantet Prizes are funded by the ''Fondation Louis-Jeantet'' and awarded each year to experienced researchers who have distinguished themselves in the field of biomedical research in one of the member states of t ...

(1998) * Marcel Benoist Prize (2003) * Elected foreign 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 ...

(2000) *

Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer The Grand Prix Charles-Léopold Mayer (Charles-Léopold Mayer Prize) is awarded annually by the Académie des Sciences (French Academy of Sciences) de l'Institut de France (the French Institute) to researchers who have performed outstanding work in ...

(2004) * Elected member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (2005) * Elected member of the French Academy of Sciences (2005) * Elected foreign hon. member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006) * Doctorate ''honoris causa'' from the

École normale supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, Paris (2010) * INSERM International Prize (2010) * Prix de la Fondation pour Genève (2011) *

Foreign Member of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics ...

(2012) * Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2012) *

A.O. Kovalevsky Medal The A.O. Kovalevsky Medal, awarded annually by the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists for extraordinary achievements in evolutionary developmental biology and comparative zoology, is named after the noted Russian embryologist Alexander Kovalevsk ...

(2013) from the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists

References

External links

His research group at the University of Geneva

His research group at the EPFLHis personal page at the Collège de France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duboule, Denis Living people 1955 births Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization French biologists Swiss biologists Scientists from Geneva Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences