Morris Soller (1931) is a
research professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
in the Department of Genetics of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is especially interested in
livestock- and
crop- genetics including
trypanotolerance
A trypanotolerant organism is one which is relatively less affected by trypanosome infestation.
By host In humans
In livestock
Some breeds are known for their trypanotolerance. This is especially important in Africa where a few particular try ...
in
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
.
Early life and education
Soller was born in 1931
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City, USA
At the age of 12 he was first inspired to learn about
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
by reading
The Theory of the Gene by
Thomas Hunt Morgan
Thomas Hunt Morgan (September 25, 1866 – December 4, 1945) was an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries elucidating the role that ...
.
[ .] While an
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
he read
Jay Laurence Lush
Jay Laurence Lush (January 3, 1896 – May 22, 1982) was a pioneering animal geneticist who made important contributions to livestock breeding. He is sometimes known as the father of modern scientific animal breeding. Lush received National Med ...
's ''Animal Breeding Plans'' and learned much from it
and interestingly would receive the award named for Lush 50 years later see below.
Soller also learned much from the writings of
Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who ...
and
Sewall Wright
Sewall Green Wright FRS(For) Honorary FRSE (December 21, 1889March 3, 1988) was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. He was a founder of population genetics alongsi ...
during this time.
In 1951 he earned a
Bachelor's Degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
and then in 1956 both a
Master's Degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in
Applied Statistics
Statistics (from German: ''Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industri ...
and a
Doctorate of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in
Animal Breeding
Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation (using best linear unbiased prediction and other methods) of the genetic value (estimated breeding value, EBV) of livestock. Selecting for breeding animals with superior E ...
from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
.
He would later return to his birth country for further
postdoctoral education at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
and
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The unive ...
in
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
.
Research and teaching career
In 1957 he was hired by the
Volcani Center as their senior scientist for animal breeding and by
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...
as a
senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...
of
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
and
Genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
.
He moved his family to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
where they have lived most of their lives since.
Between 1966 and 1972 Soller was a lecturer at
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The unive ...
in the USA.
In 1972 he returned to Israel to lecture at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem in their Department of Genetics.
He would eventually become a full professor and
emeritus professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
in 2000.
He has since continued actively in lecturing and research including
sabbaticals as the
Cotswold Visiting Scientist at Iowa State University, at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
and elsewhere.
Soller is the originator of
quantitative trait locus
A quantitative trait locus (QTL) is a locus (section of DNA) that correlates with variation of a quantitative trait in the phenotype of a population of organisms. QTLs are mapped by identifying which molecular markers (such as SNPs or AFLPs) c ...
mapping and
marker-assisted selection.
He began noticing the statistical patterns and composing the mathematical tools that would be required for these techniques in 1974, while studying
crop genetics and
livestock genetics.
He went on to collaborate with his students and peers to create the
F2,
backcrossing,
full sib,
half sib,
granddaughter,
AIL
and
selective DNA pooling techniques in QTL mapping.
Along with other laboratories around the world, his group developed some of the earliest
restriction fragment length polymorphism markers for cattle and
microsatellite markers for chickens.
He has especially become known for using these techniques to analyse
trypanotolerance
A trypanotolerant organism is one which is relatively less affected by trypanosome infestation.
By host In humans
In livestock
Some breeds are known for their trypanotolerance. This is especially important in Africa where a few particular try ...
in
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
, especially in the
N'Dama
N'Dama is a breed of cattle from West Africa. Other names for them include Boenca or Boyenca (Guinea-Bissau), Fouta Jallon, ''Djallonké'' or ''Djallonké cattle'', Fouta Longhorn, Fouta Malinke, Futa, Malinke, Mandingo (Liberia), and N'Dama Peti ...
breed.
Soller has also applied QTL analysis to
dairy traits and
Marek's disease
Marek's disease is a highly contagious viral neoplastic disease in chickens. It is named after József Marek, a Hungarian veterinarian who described it in 1907. Marek's disease is caused by an alphaherpesvirus known as "Marek's disease virus" ...
.
Professional recognition
*1996
American Association for the Advancement of Science elected him a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
*1999 Awarded the
Jay L. Lush Award by the
American Dairy Science Association The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) is a non-profit professional organization for the advancement of dairy science. ADSA is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.
Consisting of 4500 members, ADSA is involved in research, education, and in ...
*2000 Chosen to give the
A. B. Chapman Lecture of the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
*2000
Honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
"for leading the way in the actual
discovery of genetic science"
*2007
Honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from the
University of Liege, Belgium
*2012 Honorary member of the
International Society for Animal Genetics
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
*2012 The journal
Animal Genetics published a special issue in his honor.
Publications
Soller had authored and coauthored over 170
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...
ed publications, and many book chapters and encyclopedia articles.
The organisms he has studied include cattle and chickens, but also extend to plants, viruses, mice, pigs and others.
* .
::Popularly cited including by
*
:: An autobiography Soller was invited to write by
Annual Reviews
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soller, Morris
1931 births
Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
People from Manhattan
Rutgers University alumni
Northwestern University faculty
Roosevelt University faculty
Indiana University faculty
Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University
Dairy farming in Israel
American agronomists
Israeli agronomists
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Living people
American emigrants to Israel