Christiane Nusslein-Volhard is a German scientist who discovered the first non-traumatic method of embryo culture, which led to the cloning of Dolly the sheep. Christiane was born in Frankfurt am Main. She studied biology at Frankfurt University and graduated in 1966. She went on to study for three years at the University of California, Berkeley, where she then received her Ph.D
with thesis on "Development of Corneal Epithelium" in 1972. From 1972 to 1975, she was a research associate at Harvard Medical School. In 1975 she became a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin and continued her research on the development of the eye and other organs and tissues, and on developmental mechanisms in general.
In 1977 she moved to the Max-Planck Institute (MPI) in Tübingen where she currently works as an adjunct professor for developmental biology and neurobiology. Her work focuses on the development of embryonic cells and tissues between the second and third week after fertilization, particularly on mechanisms that control organogenesis during this time period. She has published more than 300 scientific papers (Herrmann et al., 2014) and has been honored with numerous awards including the Gutenberg Prize (Science Foundations Award) and two Max Planck Medals (for her discovery of zebrafish, and for her discovery that protamine, an important component of spermatozoa, is involved in calcium signaling).
I immediately loved working with flies. They fascinated me and followed me around in my dreams.Christiane NussleinVolhard
I think there are profound differences between women and men. In intelligence and creativity, there is no difference, but in what one loves, what one likes, the passions - there are differences.Christiane NussleinVolhard
