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Thomas Cremer (born 7 July 1945 in
Miesbach Miesbach () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and is the capital of the Miesbach district. The district is at an altitude of 697 metres above sea level. It covers an area of approximately 863.50 km² of alpine headlands and in 2017 had a popul ...
, Germany ), is a German professor of
human genetics Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population gene ...
and
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
with a main research focus on
molecular cytogenetics Molecular cytogenetics combines two disciplines, molecular biology and cytogenetics, and involves the analysis of chromosome structure to help distinguish normal and cancer-causing cells. Human cytogenetics began in 1956 when it was discovered tha ...
and 3D/4D analyses of nuclear structure studied by
fluorescence microscopy A fluorescence microscope is an optical microscope that uses fluorescence instead of, or in addition to, scattering, reflection, and attenuation or absorption, to study the properties of organic or inorganic substances. "Fluorescence microscop ...
including
super-resolution microscopy Super-resolution microscopy is a series of techniques in optical microscopy that allow such images to have resolutions higher than those imposed by the diffraction limit, which is due to the diffraction of light. Super-resolution imaging techni ...
and
live cell imaging Live-cell imaging is the study of living cells using time-lapse microscopy. It is used by scientists to obtain a better understanding of biological function through the study of cellular dynamics. Live-cell imaging was pioneered in the first de ...
. Thomas Cremer is the brother of the German physicist
Christoph Cremer Christoph Cremer (born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is a German physicist and emeritus at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, former honorary professor at the University of Mainz and was a former group leader at Institute of Molecular Bi ...
and Georg Cremer, Secretary General of the German Caritas Association.


Biography

Thomas Cremer was raised in
Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
. He studied medicine at the Human Medical School,
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
, where he graduated in 1970 and received his doctoral degree in 1973. From 1974-1978 he was leader of a research group at the Institute of Anthropology and Human Genetics,
University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...
followed by a fellowship as research associate at the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
(1978) in the group o
M.W. Berns
From 1978-1996 he headed an independent research group at the Institute o
Anthropology and Human Genetics
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. In 1986 he received a Heisenberg scholarship of the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
combined with a position as visiting professor at the
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
,
New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
in the group of Laura Manuelidis and David C. Ward. From 1996-2010 he held the position of a Full Professor, Chair of Anthropology and Human Genetics in the Faculty of Biology at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
. Thomas Cremer is corresponding member of th
Academy of Sciences Heidelberg
(2001) and member of the
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...
(2006). Since his retirement 10/2010 he has continued several research projects at the LMU.


Scientific Contributions

Thomas Cremer was an early supporter of the idea that higher order chromatin arrangement and the architecture of the nucleus are essential for cardinal nuclear functions. Spatial organization of
chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...
, now considered as the highest level of epigenetic
gene regulation Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA). Sophisticated programs of gene expression are wi ...
, has been the focus of his research since the early 70's. Together with his brother
Christoph Cremer Christoph Cremer (born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is a German physicist and emeritus at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, former honorary professor at the University of Mainz and was a former group leader at Institute of Molecular Bi ...
he pioneered laser-UV-microirradiation experiments that indirectly implied a territorial organization of
chromosomes A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...
in the interphase nucleus. This finding led Thomas Cremer to his concept of a new field of
cytogenetic Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...
research, called by him a
interphase cytogenetics
Realization of interphase cytogenetics was achieved during the 1980s where T. Cremer made major contributions to the development of
in situ hybridization ''In situ'' hybridization (ISH) is a type of hybridization that uses a labeled complementary DNA, RNA or modified nucleic acids strand (i.e., probe) to localize a specific DNA or RNA sequence in a portion or section of tissue (''in situ'') or ...
techniques to visualize normal and aberrant chromosomes and chromosomal subregions directly in the
cell nucleus The cell nucleus (pl. nuclei; from Latin or , meaning ''kernel'' or ''seed'') is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, h ...
and provided direct evidence for
chromosome territories In cell biology, chromosome territories are regions of the nucleus preferentially occupied by particular chromosomes. Interphase chromosomes are long DNA strands that are extensively folded, and are often described as appearing like a bowl of ...
(CTs). During the 1990s he realized together wit
P. Lichter
the concept of
comparative genomic hybridization Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a molecular cytogenetic method for analysing copy number variations (CNVs) relative to ploidy level in the DNA of a test sample compared to a reference sample, without the need for culturing cells. The ...
to metaphase chromosomes and to a matrix with DNA spots representing specific genomic sites. During the late 1990s until now his laboratory has made major achievements in 3D multicolor FISH allowing the simultaneous visualization of all human chromosomes in human cells. In addition, he developed methods to visualize individual CTs and nuclear subcompartments to study their dynamics in living cells. T. Cremer has achieved major insight to compare nuclear phenotypes in a variety of species, ranging from primates, birds to the micro- and macronucleus of ciliates with the goal to classify universally valid, species and cell-type specific normal features of nuclear architecture and distinguish them from disease correlated features.


Scientific awards

* 2005: Maffo Vialli International Award for Histochemistry for pioneering contributions to the study of higher order chromatin arrangement through laser-UV microirradiation and fluorescence based molecular cytogenetics. * 2009: Award of the
Schleiden Medal The Schleiden Medal is an award given by the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the National Academy of Germany, to honour outstanding achievements in the field of cellular biology. The award is named after botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden. Recipie ...
of the
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...
for his distinguished scientific work on nuclear architecture with special focus on the topography of chromosomes in the nucleus. * 2011: Award of the "Medal of honor" from the German Society of Human Genetics * 2011: Honorary member of the European Cytogenetics Association (E.C.A.) * 2015: Award of the "Wilhelm Bernhard Medal" together with his wife Marion Creme

for their joint contributions on genome structure and function.


Literature

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cremer, Thomas Living people 1945 births German geneticists German molecular biologists Schleiden Medal recipients