Ethan Bier
Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego
Ethan Bier is a professor of cell and developmental biology at University of California San Diego, where for the past 25 years he has studied secreted proteins in fruit-fly embryos. He has also used fruit flies to study mechanisms of human disease, focusing on how bacterial toxins contribute to breaching host barriers. Bier recently made a discovery that could revolutionize control of vector-borne diseases (such as malaria) and pests, genetic manipulation of organisms for medical and agricultural research, and treatment of cancer, HIV, and other maladies. He has received the Sloan Foundation Award, the McKnight Award for Neuroscience, the Basil O’Connor Award, and the American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Award.
Previously
The technology for analyzing the genetic code of animals, including humans, has grown more sophisticated even as its cost has fallen dramatically. Increasingly, we can do a lo...