Allan C. Spradling is an American scientist and principal investigator at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute who studies egg development in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, a fruit fly.[2] He is considered a leading researcher in the developmental genetics of the fruit fly egg and has developed a number of techniques in his career that have led to greater understanding of fruit fly genetics including contributions to sequencing its genome.[2] He is also an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.[2]

Allan C. Spradling
Born1949 (age 74–75)
Alma materUniversity of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
AwardsNewcomb Cleveland Prize (1983)
Genetics Society of America Medal (1989)
Edwin Grant Conklin Medal (2003)
George W. Beadle Award (2003)[1]
Gruber Prize in Genetics (2008)
March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (2018)
Wiley Prize (2024)
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
InstitutionsCarnegie Institution for Science, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Education

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Spradling obtained an A.B. in physics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in cell biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2]

Career

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Spradling and fellow American geneticist Gerald M. Rubin are considered pioneers in the field of genetics for their work in the early 1980s with their idea to "attach" a gene to a Drosophila transposon, P elements,[3] known to insert itself into fruit fly's chromosomes.[4] From this research came work from other scientists on transposons as a tool for genetic alterations in organisms.[4][5][6][7]

In 2003 Spradling was awarded the Beadle Medal[1] and in 2008 Spradling was awarded the Gruber Prize in Genetics for his work on the Drosophila genome and continues his work in investigating novel technological approaches to genetics, egg development and stem cells. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.[8] In 2024 he received the Wiley Prize.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Orr-Weaver, T. (2003). "The 2003 George W. Beadle Medal; Gerald M. Rubin and Allan C. Spradling". Genetics. 164 (4): 1248–1249. doi:10.1093/genetics/164.4.1248. PMC 1462668. PMID 15106662.
  2. ^ a b c d "Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators: Allan C. Spradling, Ph.D." Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  3. ^ Spradling, A.; Rubin, G. (1982). "Transposition of cloned P elements into Drosophila germ line chromosomes". Science. 218 (4570): 341–347. Bibcode:1982Sci...218..341S. doi:10.1126/science.6289435. PMID 6289435.
  4. ^ a b Jedicke, Peter (2001). Extreme science: transplanting your head and other feats of the future. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-26819-0.
  5. ^ Rubin, G.; Spradling, A. (1982). "Genetic transformation of Drosophila with transposable element vectors". Science. 218 (4570): 348–353. Bibcode:1982Sci...218..348R. doi:10.1126/science.6289436. PMID 6289436.
  6. ^ Spradling, A.; Drummond-Barbosa, D.; Kai, T. (2001). "Stem cells find their niche". Nature. 414 (6859): 98–104. Bibcode:2001Natur.414...98S. doi:10.1038/35102160. PMID 11689954. S2CID 2904709.
  7. ^ Spradling, A.; Stern, D.; Beaton, A.; Rhem, E.; Laverty, T.; Mozden, N.; Misra, S.; Rubin, G. (1999). "The Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project gene disruption project: Single P-element insertions mutating 25% of vital Drosophila genes". Genetics. 153 (1): 135–177. doi:10.1093/genetics/153.1.135. PMC 1460730. PMID 10471706.
  8. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  9. ^ Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences 2024