Ben Barres facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ben A. Barres
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| Born | September 13, 1954 West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
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| Died | December 27, 2017 (aged 63) Stanford, California, U.S.
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| Known for | Neuroscience |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neurobiology |
| Institutions | Stanford University |
| Doctoral advisor | David Corey |
Ben A. Barres (born September 13, 1954 – died December 27, 2017) was an American scientist who studied the brain. He was a neurobiologist at Stanford University. His research looked at how neurons (brain cells) and glial cells (support cells) work together. These cells are all part of the nervous system. Starting in 2008, he led the Neurobiology Department at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1997, he became a man. In 2013, he became the first openly transgender scientist in the National Academy of Sciences.
Early Life and Education
Ben Barres was born on September 13, 1954, in West Orange, New Jersey. He was given the name Barbara A. Barres at birth. As a child, he felt strongly that he was a boy. He showed this in everything he did.
He was very good at math and science in school. He was especially inspired by his eighth-grade teacher. Ben Barres earned a science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. He then got a medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School in 1979. He also trained in neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
During his training, he noticed that doctors didn't know much about brain diseases. He saw a link between brain cell damage and unusual glial cells. This made him very curious. So, he decided to leave his medical training. He wanted to do research in neuroscience instead. He earned his PhD in neurobiology from Harvard Medical School in 1990. After that, he did more research at University College London.
In 1993, Ben Barres joined the faculty at Stanford School of Medicine. In 1997, he transitioned to male. He later wrote about unfair treatment in science. In 2008, he became the head of Neurobiology at Stanford.
Amazing Brain Research
Ben Barres wrote many important papers for science journals. These included Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Science, and Cell. His work focused on glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). He studied how they work and how they grow. Much of his early work was published under his birth name.
One of his first big discoveries was about myelin. Myelin is like insulation around nerve fibers. He found out how young neurons tell glial cells called oligodendrocytes to make this insulation. He also studied why many neurons die soon after they connect to other cells. This process is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. He looked into why so many cells die this way.
He also studied how nerve fibers get their myelin. He looked at how different signals, like thyroid hormone, help glial cells form. This included the formation of oligodendrocytes.
Early in his time at Stanford, Barres found how important glial cells are. They help neurons form, grow, mature, and even repair themselves. His lab also found ways to clean and grow certain brain cells. These included retinal ganglion cells and the glial cells they work with.
Around the year 2000, he kept studying glial cells. He explored how they help create new neurons. He also studied how glial cells control synapses (connections between neurons). He looked at how astrocytes (a type of glial cell) develop. He found that a protein called Id2 helps control oligodendrocyte growth. If this protein was removed, oligodendrocytes matured too early.
In the 2010s, Ben Barres used special methods to learn more. He wanted to understand how cells talk to each other. He studied how myelin forms and how nerve signals gather. He also wanted to know how much glial cells help form and use synapses. Another goal was to find signals that help retinal cells grow and survive. This knowledge could help repair damage after injuries. Finally, he wanted to find out what gray matter astrocytes do. His lab found new signals that help with myelin formation and synapse creation. They also figured out what these new signals were.
His Final Years
Ben Barres passed away on December 27, 2017. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 20 months earlier. He died at his home in Palo Alto, California. He was survived by his two sisters and a brother.
He once said about his life: "I lived life on my terms: I wanted to switch genders, and I did. I wanted to be a scientist, and I was. I wanted to study glia, and I did that too. I stood up for what I believed in and I like to think I made an impact, or at least opened the door for the impact to occur. I have zero regrets and I’m ready to die. I’ve truly had a great life."
Awards and Honors
Ben Barres received many awards for his research. These included a Life Sciences Research Fellowship and a McKnight Investigator Award. He also won teaching awards, like the Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2008, he received the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was a member of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation International Research Consortium. This group studies spinal cord injuries. He also helped start Annexon Biosciences, Inc. This company makes medicines to stop brain cell damage in diseases like Alzheimer's.
In 2011, he became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2013, he was chosen for the National Academy of Sciences. This made him the first openly transgender member. In 2016, he won the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience. He shared this award with biochemist Tom Jessell.
See also
In Spanish: Ben Barres para niños
