Margaret "Minx" T. Fuller is an American developmental biologist known for her research on the male germ line and defining the role of the

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

environment (the hub cells that establish the niche of particular cells) in specifying cell fate and differentiation. Fuller is the Reed-Hodgson Professor of Human Biology at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and former chair of the Stanford Department of Developmental Biology.

Biography

Fuller earned a B.A. in physics from Brandeis University in 1974, and a Ph.D. in microbiology from MIT in 1980, working with Jonathan King. She completed her postdoctoral work in developmental genetics at Indiana University, working with

Elizabeth Raff Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and

Thomas Kaufman Thomas Charles Kaufman is an American geneticist. He is known for his work on the zeste-white region of the ''Drosophila'' X chromosome. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of biology at Indiana University, where he conducts his curren ...

, from 1980 to 1983. Fuller joined the University of Colorado faculty and then joined

in 1990, where she began working on

spermatogenesis Spermatogenesis is the process by which haploid spermatozoa develop from germ cells in the seminiferous tubules of the testis. This process starts with the mitotic division of the stem cells located close to the basement membrane of the tubule ...

, doing genetic analysis of

microtubule Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nm and have an inner diameter between 11 an ...

structure and function. Fuller is married to fellow biologist

Matthew P. Scott Matthew P. Scott is an American biologist who was the tenth president of the Carnegie Institution for Science. While at Stanford University, Scott studied how embryonic and later development is governed by proteins that control gene activity and c ...

Key papers

* Raff, E.C. and M. T. Fuller, et al., "Regulation of tubulin gene expression during embryogenesis in ''Drosophila melanogaster''", ''Cell'' v.28, pp. 33–40 (1982). * Fuller, M.T. ''et al.'', "Genetic Analysis of Microtubule Structure: A b-tubulin Mutation Causes the Formation of Aberrant Microtubule ''in vivo'' and ''in vitro''", ''Journal of Cell Biology'', v.104, pp. 385–394 (1987). * Fuller, M.T. and P.G. Wilson, "Force and Counter Force in the Mitotic Spindle", ''Cell'', v.71, pp. 547–550 (1992). * Fuller, M.T., "Riding the Polar Winds: Chromosomes Motor Down East," ''Cell'', v.81, pp. 5–8 (1995). * Hales, K.G., M.T. Fuller, "Developmentally Regulated Mitochondrial Fusion Mediated by a Conserved, Novel, Predicted GTPase", ''Cell'' (1997). * G. J. Hermann, J.W. Thatcher, J.P. Mills, K.G. Hales, M.T. Fuller, "Mitochondrial Fusion in Yeast Requires the Transmembrane GTPase Fzo1p", ''Journal of Cell Biology'' (1998). * Kiger, A., H. White-Cooper, and M.T. fuller, "Somatic support cells restrict germ line stem cell self-renewal and promote differentiation", ''Nature'' v.407, pp. 750–754 (2000).

Additional publications

* Margaret T. Fuller and

Allan C. Spradling Allan C. Spradling is an American scientist and principal investigator at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute who studies egg development in the model organism, ''Drosophila melanogaster'', a fruit fly. H ...

, ''Review'', "Male and Female ''Drosophila'' Germline Stem Cells: Two Versions of Immortality", ''Science'', v.316, n.5823, pp. 402–404 (April 20, 2007).

Awards

* 1980 -

Jane Coffin Childs Fellow The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research (the "JCC"), established in 1937, awards the "Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship" for research in the medical and related sciences bearing on cancer. History The Fund was founded ...

* 1985-86 - Searle Scholar * 2004 - Reed-Hodgson Professor, Human Biology,

* 2006 - Elected member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences * 2008 - Elected member,

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 ...

* 2022 - Genetics Society of America Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Margaret 21st-century American biologists Stem cell researchers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Stanford University School of Medicine faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Developmental biologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American women biologists 21st-century American women scientists 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American biologists Brandeis University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty Searle Scholars Program recipients Members of the National Academy of Medicine