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Professor Konrad Basler
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If one sees Konrad Basler talking avidly but relaxed about his research, taking the time to carefully explain some complicated details of his pioneering work, one would never think that he is not only a full professor at the University of Zurich, but also a Scientific Advisor of The Genetics Company, and an attentive husband and father of four young girls.
His interest in molecular genetics started in an optional course during the last year of high school. This is what led him to study biochemistry at the University of Zurich and later to join Prof. Charles Weissmann's group for his diploma work. This first project marked the start of an outstanding scientific career: his research as a diploma student was published in the renowned journal Cell. Later, being the first Ph.D. student of Prof. Ernst Hafen, his discoveries with the model system Drosophila received equal attention in the field of developmental biology. During his postdoctoral time in the early 1990s at Columbia University, New York, Basler developed with Prof. Gary Struhl many of the sophisticated genetic tools that allowed him to address the mechanisms by which cells communicate during embryogenesis. When offered the position of an assistant professor at the University of Zurich, he moved back to Switzerland and continued his research on cell signaling in Drosophila. The groundbreaking demonstration that secreted signaling proteins act as gradient morphogens during limb development made him the recipient of different prestigious awards in the late 1990s, including the Friedrich Miescher Award, the gold medal of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine.
Basler was promoted to full professor in 1997 and is happy to work in his native environment where he and his family are at home. He is currently interested in the next steps in the embryonic signaling pathways, trying to understand how morphogen signals are translated in cells to regulate gene expression. He still considers Drosophila to be the perfect model system as it offers an optimal combination between medical relevance, and genetic and molecular approaches to basic science.
Between his challenging research and precious family time, Konrad Basler is also active in a private company, together with Prof. E. Hafen. The first phase of organizing the company was difficult, but now that a professional and competent management team has been recruited - "Scientists are rather bad businessmen anyway" - Basler enjoys his job as their scientific advisor. This is not that much different from his work at the Institute of Molecular Biology.
Asked about plans and goals for the future, one realizes that he is keen to carry out advanced fundamental research. Since his diploma work, his productivity has resulted in 12 further Cell papers. He enjoys his studies, working with his group and is glad that his work is also relevant for the field of medical research. It is satisfying that future patients might benefit from his basic discoveries with Drosophila.
Petra Frey |
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What flies tell us about cancer |
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At least half of our population develops a colorectal tumor by the age of seventy. The observation that a gene involved in the wingless signaling pathway is mutated in 80% of human colorectal cancer patients opened new ways of understanding it.
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