Michael Levine (biologist)
Michael S. Levine | |
---|---|
Nationality | ascidian developmental biology |
Awards | NAS Award in Molecular Biology (1996) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Developmental biology |
Institutions | Princeton University University of California, Berkeley University of California, San Diego Columbia University |
Doctoral advisor | Alan Garen |
Doctoral students | Albert Erives |
Notes | |
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1998) |
Michael Levine is an American
Levine previously held appointments at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, San Diego, and Columbia University. He is notable for co-discovering the Homeobox in 1983 and for discovering the organization of the regulatory regions of developmental genes.[3]
Biography
Levine was born in
Levine joined the Princeton faculty in 2015, and had been a professor at
Discoveries
Homeobox discovery
Levine was a post-doc with
After learning that
Drosophila genome. And we got 'em all. I mean, we got 'em all!" Far from being humble, Levine says, "We were like, 'We kicked your ass pretty good, didn't we, baby!' Those were the days."[3]
Discovery of the eve stripe 2 enhancer
Levine briefly returned to
"Before Levine's studies of even-skipped stripe 2, it wasn't clear how you generated spatially restricted patterns of gene expression from initially broad crude gradients of morphogens. I think that the even-skipped stripe 2 studies were the defining studies that showed how an organism can interpret those gradients and turn them into specific patterns of gene expression. To me that's Mike's crowning achievement."[3]
Discoveries in the ascidian Ciona
After earning tenure in only four years at Columbia,
Awards
- 1982 - Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship[8]
- 1985 - Searle Scholars Research Fellowship[14]
- 1985 - Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship[15]
- 1996 - NAS Award in Molecular Biology - "For his insightful contributions to our understanding of gene regulation networks and molecular mechanisms governing the development of organisms with a segmented body plan."[16]
- 1998 - Elected to United States National Academy of Sciences in "Cellular and Developmental Biology" section: "Utilizing an elegant blend of in vitro and in vivo studies, Levine carried out insightful and complete analysis of regulatory events that govern segmentation and dorsal-ventral polarity in Drosophila. His work provided a dramatic example of combinatorial regulation at a complex enhancer and established new paradigms for transcriptional control."[17]
- 2009 - Wilbur Cross Medal (Yale Alumni Association)[5]
Professional relations
Levine cites as a significant influence his instructor Fred Wilt (taking his developmental biology class "was probably the single most galvanizing experience I had in terms of defining my future goals"),
On choosing to become a research biologist, he described some family pressure to become a doctor ("Coming from a modest background, particularly a Jewish family, the pressure to become a doctor was intense"),[3]
Fellow biologist
Notable papers
- McGinnis, W.; Levine, M. S.; Hafen, E.; Kuroiwa, A.; Gehring, W. J. (1984). "A conserved DNA sequence in homoeotic genes of the Drosophila Antennapedia and bithorax complexes". Nature. 308 (5958): 428–33. paper)
- Han, Kyuhyung; Levine, Michael S.; Manley, James L. (1989). "Synergistic activation and repression of transcription by Drosophila homeobox proteins". Cell. 56 (4): 573–83. S2CID 41210570.
- Small, S; Blair, A; Levine, M (1992). "Regulation of even-skipped stripe 2 in the Drosophila embryo". The EMBO Journal. 11 (11): 4047–57. PMID 1327756.
- Arora, K; Levine, M S; O'Connor, M B (1994). "The screw gene encodes a ubiquitously expressed member of the TGF-beta family required for specification of dorsal cell fates in the Drosophila embryo". Genes & Development. 8 (21): 2588–601. PMID 7958918.
- Cai, Haini; Levine, Michael (1995). "Modulation of enhancer-promoter interactions by insulators in the Drosophila embryo". Nature. 376 (6540): 533–6. S2CID 4267876.
- Arnosti, DN; Barolo, S; Levine, M; Small, S (1996). "The eve stripe 2 enhancer employs multiple modes of transcriptional synergy". Development. 122 (1): 205–14. PMID 8565831.
- Zhou, J; Barolo, S; Szymanski, P; Levine, M (1996). "The Fab-7 element of the bithorax complex attenuates enhancer-promoter interactions in the Drosophila embryo". Genes & Development. 10 (24): 3195–201. PMID 8985187.
- Nibu, Yutaka; Zhang, Hailan; Bajor, Ewa; Barolo, Scott; Small, Stephen; Levine, Michael (1998). "DCtBP mediates transcriptional repression by Knirps, Krüppel and Snail in the Drosophila embryo". The EMBO Journal. 17 (23): 7009–20. PMID 9843507.
- Ohtsuki, S; Levine, M; Cai, HN (1998). "Different core promoters possess distinct regulatory activities in the Drosophila embryo". Genes & Development. 12 (4): 547–56. PMID 9472023.
- Mannervik, M.; Nibu, Y; Zhang, H; Levine, M (1999). "Transcriptional Coregulators in Development". Science. 284 (5414): 606–9. PMID 10213677.
- Markstein, Michele; Markstein, Peter; Markstein, Vicky; Levine, Michael S. (2002). "Genome-wide analysis of clustered Dorsal binding sites identifies putative target genes in the Drosophila embryo". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 99 (2): 763–8. PMID 11752406.
- Stathopoulos, Angelike; Levine, Michael (2002). "Dorsal Gradient Networks in the Drosophila Embryo". Developmental Biology. 246 (1): 57–67. PMID 12027434.
- Zeitlinger, Julia; Stark, Alexander; Kellis, Manolis; Hong, Joung-Woo; Nechaev, Sergei; Adelman, Karen; Levine, Michael; Young, Richard A (2007). "RNA polymerase stalling at developmental control genes in the Drosophila melanogaster embryo". Nature Genetics. 39 (12): 1512–6. PMID 17994019.
Notes
- ^ "Molecular Biology Faculty Michael Levine".
- ^ "LSI History".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hopkin, Karen (March 1, 2007). "Fire Fly". The Scientist. 21 (3): 58.
- ^ a b c d UCSD Press Release, April 30, 1996.
- ^ Wilbur Lucius Cross Medalis an honor presented each year by the Graduate School Alumni Association to a small number of outstanding alumni. The medal recognizes distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and public service–all areas in which the legendary Dean Cross excelled.")
- ^ a b "What have you got in common with a fly?", Science Museum, South Kensington, UK (last visited July 29, 2012).
- S2CID 4235713.
- ^ a b c d Mike Levine (Abstract), Current Biology, v.13, n.14, R545 (July 15, 2003).
- ^ a b Sean B. Carroll, quoted in Hopkin, Karen (March 1, 2007). "Fire Fly". The Scientist. 21 (3): 58.
- ISBN 978-4-431-66984-5.
- PMID 10964472.
- PMID 9501022.
- PMID 10385620.
- ^ "Michael Levine", Searle Scholars Program directory. (last visited July 29, 2012).
- New York Times, March 10, 1985.
- ^ "NAS Award in Molecular Biology" Archived 2012-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, National Academy of Sciences (Awarded for recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist age 45 or younger).
- ^ "Michael S. Levine", National Academy of Sciences Member Directory (last visited 2012 July 29).
External links
- Seminars and Talks
- Interviews (print and video)
- Video interview with Levine, "Evolution: 'Great Transformations'" (WGBH 2001).
- Levine interviewed in "What Darwin Never Knew", PBS Nova, Dec. 21, 2011
- Video Interview with Levine by Andrea Anderson, "The Biology of Genomes (2008)", SciVee (April 8, 2009)
- Levine, M (2003). "Mike Levine". Current Biology. 13 (14): R545. S2CID 3186289.
- Profiles
- Hopkin, Karen (March 1, 2007). "Fire Fly". The Scientist. 21 (3): 58.
- "25 Years of Homeodomain / Homeobox discovery", Evo devo, HOX, May 10, 2008.
- "Fly Guy". Science Matters. 1 (7). UC Berkeley. 21 December 2004.