Title: How I Made My Living From Fish: The Balancing Act Between My Own Interests and the Interest of Others

Speaker: Manfred Schartl (University of Würzburg, Texas State University)

Profile: My main research interests are the molecular events that lead to developmental defects and major diseases. The platyfish, a most popular species for aquariophilists, is also well known in cancer biology, because melanomas appear as soon as two closely related species are crossed and back-crossed. I have discovered why and how this occurs, and I then used the phenomenon to dissect the mechanisms leading to tumor formation. The medaka, a ricefield fish known by almost Japanese people, has been the other main instrument for this research, because it is amenable to all sorts of genetic analysis and manipulations. My research was later on extended to a few key studies of evolutionary transitions, with a particular focus on sex determination mechanisms and genome evolution.
I have conducted my research at first as a junior group leader at the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich and then as Professor and Chair of the institute for medical biochemistry at the University of Würzburg.  In 2020 I also joined Texas State University as Scholar in Residence.
Manfred Schartl's CV (pdf)

Language: English, no interpretation.

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