Walter Jakob Gehring

Walter Jakob Gehring (20 March 1939[2] – 29 May

2014[3])[4] was a Swiss developmental biologist who Walter Jakob Gehring
was a professor at the Biozentrum Basel of the
University of Basel, Switzerland. He obtained his PhD
at the University of Zurich in 1965 and after two years
as a research assistant of Ernst Hadorn he joined Alan
Garen's group at Yale University in New Haven as a
postdoctoral fellow.[5]

In 1969 he was appointed associate professor at Yale Walter Jakob Gehring (2014)
Medical School[6] and 1972 returned to Switzerland to Born 20 March 1939
become a professor of developmental biology and Zürich, Switzerland
genetics at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel.
Died 29 May 2014 (aged 75)
He was Secretary General of the European Molecular
Basel, Switzerland
Biology Organization,[7] President of the International
Known for Discovering the homeobox (DNA
Society of Developmental Biologists, and Foreign
segment)
Member of the national academies of the USA, Great
Britain,[8] France, Germany and Sweden. Awards Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine
(1987)[1]
Gehring was mainly involved in studies of Drosophila Scientific career
genetics and development, particularly in the analysis
Fields Developmental Biologist
of cell determination in the embryo and
transdetermination of imaginal discs. He performed Institutions University of Zurich, Yale Medical
studies of the heat shock genes, various transposons, School, Yale University,
and the homeotic genes which are involved in the Biozentrum University of Basel
genetic control of development.

In 1983 Gehring and his collaborators (William McGinnis, Michael S. Levine, Ernst Hafen, Richard
Garber, Atsushi Kuroiwa, Johannes Wirz), discovered the homeobox, a DNA segment characteristic for
homeotic genes which is not only present in arthropods and their ancestors, but also in vertebrates
including man.[9]

Gehring was also involved in the development and application of enhancer trapping methods. He and his
collaborators identified PAX6 as a master control gene for eye development, which led to a new theory
about the monophyletic origin of the eyes in evolution.[10]

Awards
1987 Gairdner Foundation International Award
1987 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine[1]
 1996 Awarded the Otto Warburg Medal[11]
1997 Awarded the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.[12]
2000 Received the Kyoto Prize for Basic Science.[13]
2001 Alfred Vogt-Preis[14]
2002 Received the Balzan Prize for Developmental Biology.[15]
2003 A.O. Kovalevsky Medal

References
1. "Louis-Jeantet Prize, Year: 1987" (https://www.jeantet.ch/en/prix-louis-jeantet/laureats/1987-
en).
2. Who, Marquis Who's (2008). Who's who in Science and Engineering (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=7g1LAQAAIAAJ&q=Walter+Jakob+Gehring+20+March+1939). Marquis Who's
Who. ISBN 9780837957685.
3. Affolter, Markus; Müller, Martin (2014). "Walter Jakob Gehring (1939–2014)" (https://doi.org/
10.1016%2Fj.devcel.2014.07.011). Developmental Cell. 30 (2): 120–122.
doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2014.07.011 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.devcel.2014.07.011).
PMID 25215373 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25215373).
4. "Walter Jakob Gehring (1939–2014) | the Embryo Project Encyclopedia" (https://embryo.as
u.edu/pages/walter-jakob-gehring-1939-2014).
5. Shearn, A; Rice, T; Garen, A; Gehring, W (1971). "Imaginal Disc Abnormalities in Lethal
Mutants of Drosophila" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC389475). Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68 (10): 2594–8. Bibcode:1971PNAS...68.2594S (https://ui.adsabs.harvar
d.edu/abs/1971PNAS...68.2594S). doi:10.1073/pnas.68.10.2594 (https://doi.org/10.1073%2
Fpnas.68.10.2594). PMC 389475 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC389475).
PMID 5002822 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5002822).
6. "New Perspectives on Eye Development and the Evolution of Eyes and Photoreceptors" (htt
p://materiais.dbio.uevora.pt/MA/Artigos/Gehring-Eye_Development_and_the_Evolution_of_
Eyes_and_Photoreceptors.pdf) (PDF). dbio.uevora.pt/. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
7. "EMBO & EMBC annual report 2001" (http://www.embo.org/documents/news/facts_figures/
EMBO_annual_report_2001.pdf) (PDF). embo.org/. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
8. Morata, Ginés; Affolter, Markus (2021). "Walter Jakob Gehring. 20 March 1939—29 May
2014" (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsbm.2021.0011). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the
Royal Society. 71: 197–212. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2021.0011 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsbm.
2021.0011). S2CID 236457532 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:236457532).
9. Gehring, W. J.; Kuroiwa, A.; Hafen, E.; Levine, M. S.; McGinnis, W. (March 1984). "A
conserved DNA sequence in homoeotic genes of the Drosophila Antennapedia and bithorax
complexes". Nature. 308 (5958): 428–433. Bibcode:1984Natur.308..428M (https://ui.adsabs.
harvard.edu/abs/1984Natur.308..428M). doi:10.1038/308428a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F
308428a0). PMID 6323992 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6323992). S2CID 4235713 (htt
ps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4235713).
10. Gehring, WJ; Ikeo, K (September 1999). "Pax 6: mastering eye morphogenesis and eye
evolution". Trends Genet. 15 (9): 371–7. doi:10.1016/s0168-9525(99)01776-x (https://doi.or
g/10.1016%2Fs0168-9525%2899%2901776-x). PMID 10461206 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.n
ih.gov/10461206).
11. "Otto-Warburg-Medal" (http://www.otto-warburg-medaille.org/index.php/previous-award-winn
ers.html). GBM. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
12. White, P. C.; Mune, T.; Rogerson, F. M.; Kayes, K. M.; Agarwal, A. K. (1997). "March of
Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology" (https://doi.org/10.1203%2F00006450-199704001-0
0014). Pediatric Research. 41 (1): 25–9. doi:10.1203/00006450-199704001-00014 (https://d
oi.org/10.1203%2F00006450-199704001-00014). PMID 8979285 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/8979285).
13. "The 2000 Kyoto Prize" (http://www.inamori-f.or.jp/laureates/k16_b_walter/prf_e.html).
inamori-f.or.jp. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
14. "Alfred Vogt-Stiftung zur Förderung der Augenheilkunde" (http://www.alfred-vogt-stiftung.ch/
preistraeger.php). www.alfred-vogt-stiftung.ch.
15. "2002 Balzan Prize for Developmental Biology" (http://www.balzan.org/en/prizewinners/walt
er-gehring/). balzan.org. Retrieved 3 June 2014.

Further reading
Walter, Niklaus (2002). "From Transdetermination to the Homeodomain at Atomic
Resolution: An interview with Walter J. Gehring". Int. J. Dev. Biol. 46 (1): 29–37.
PMID 11902685 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11902685).

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