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Detlef Weigel facts for kids

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Detlef Weigel
Weigel portrait 2016.jpg
Weigel in 2016
Born (1961-12-15) December 15, 1961 (age 63)
Dannenberg (Elbe), Germany
Nationality German and US (naturalized)
Alma mater Bielefeld University, University of Cologne
Awards McClintock Prize (2019)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2007)
Scientific career
Fields Biology
Institutions Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
University of Tübingen
Salk Institute
Doctoral advisor Herbert Jäckle [de]

Detlef Weigel (born in 1961 in Lower Saxony, Germany) is a famous German-American scientist. He studies how living things grow and change over time. This is called developmental and evolutionary biology.

Learning About Science

Detlef Weigel studied biology and chemistry at universities in Bielefeld and Cologne. In 1986, he earned his first degree in biology. His project was about how nerve cells develop in fruit flies. Later, in 1988, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen. There, he worked on his PhD. He discovered a key group of proteins called FOX proteins. These proteins help control how genes work. In 1988, he finished his PhD from the University of Tübingen with top honors.

His Work and Discoveries

After his PhD, Weigel started working with plants. He joined Elliot M. Meyerowitz at Caltech. There, he found a special gene called LEAFY in a small plant called Arabidopsis thaliana. This gene helps plants make flowers. From 1993 to 2002, he was a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 2002, he became a director at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology. He started a new department there for Molecular Biology. He also teaches at the Salk Institute and the University of Tübingen. In 2012, Weigel helped start a company called Computomics. This company uses computers to study plant information. He is also a main editor for a science magazine called eLife.

Plant Development

In the 1990s, Weigel mostly studied how individual flowers grow. He also looked at what makes plants start to flower. His team made important discoveries in both these areas. For example, he showed that if you put the LEAFY gene from Arabidopsis thaliana into aspen trees, they flower much faster. Instead of years, they flower in months! Weigel and his team also found the FT gene. This gene is a key signal that tells plants when to flower. His group also created new tools to study plant genes. This led to finding the first microRNA mutant in plants. MicroRNAs are tiny molecules that control genes.

Plant Evolution and Immunity

Weigel also became interested in how plants change over time. This is called evolution. He studied how genes vary in plants. His group created detailed maps of plant genes. One big project he started is called the 1001 Genomes project. It studies the genes of many different Arabidopsis thaliana plants. He also studies why some plant types cannot mix well. This is like a "genetic barrier." Working with Jeffery Dangl, his group found that these barriers often involve the plant's immune system. They discovered that sometimes, when two different plants mix, the new plant's immune system gets confused. It might think parts from one parent are dangerous. This can cause the plant's cells to die. It's like the plant has an autoimmunity problem. Most of the genes involved are part of the immune system. This shows that building a perfect immune system is tricky. They have studied several cases in detail. They found that specific proteins from the parents interact in a way that causes this problem.

Awards and Recognition

Detlef Weigel has received many important awards for his scientific work:

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