Trudi Schüpbach (born Zurich, Switzerland, February 3, 1950; full name Gertrud M. Schüpbach; published name Trudi Schüpbach) is a Swiss-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interact ...

. She is an Emeritus Professor of

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, where her laboratory studies molecular and genetic mechanisms in fruit fly (''

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 ...

'') oogenesis.

Research

Schüpbach's research focuses on signaling pathways that are involved in pattern formation during embryonic development. Using the fruit fly (''

'') 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. 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.

Life

Schüpbach received her Ph.D. in Biology from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, Switzerland, where she also performed her first postdoctoral work before she continued as a postdoc at

. In 1990 she was appointed as Associate Professor and promoted to Full Professor in 1994 at

. Schüpbach is married to Nobel laureate and fellow biologist Eric F. Wieschaus.

Honors

* 1981 Alfred Schlafli Prize for thesis research awarded by Swiss Zoological Society * 1999 Elected Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) 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, a ...

* 2000 Elected Associate Member

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 ...

* 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,

, Switzerland

Trivia

Genetic screenings for

maternal effect A maternal effect is a situation where the phenotype of an organism is determined not only by the environment it experiences and its genotype, but also by the environment and genotype of its mother. In genetics, maternal effects occur when an org ...

"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

External links

Princeton University faculty profile

Schüpbach lab page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schupbach, Gertrud Swiss biologists Princeton University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American geneticists Living people 1950 births