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Gunter Wagner, PhD

Research Professor and Alison Richard Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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Research Professor and Alison Richard Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Biography

Günter P. Wagner is an evolutionary geneticist with training in biochemcial engineering, zoology and mathematics from the University of Vienna, Austria. He spent six postdoctoral years at the Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry (Goettingen, Germany) and for Developmental Biology (Tübingen, Germany). His academic career started at the University of Vienna and in 1991 he received a call to assume a full professorship at the Biology Department at Yale. From 1996 to 2001 he was Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale, and in 2010 his lab moved to the Systems Biology Institute at Yale's West Campus.



Dr. Wagner's research interest is the evolution of gene regulation as it pertains to the origin of evolutionary novelties. In particular the lab is focusing on the evolution of the endometrial stromal cells in the context of the evolutionary origin of pregnancy. Another focus of my lab is the developmental basis of character identity, as for instance in the case of digit identity of birds.



In 1992 Dr. Wagner received the MacArthur Fellowship for my research on the developmental basis of homology and in 1997 he was elected both to become corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2010 Dr, Wagner was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.




Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Postdoc
Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology (1985)
Postdoc
University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany (1982)
Postdoc
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (1981)
PhD
University of Vienna, Zoology (1979)

Research

Overview

Evolution of gene regulation in endometrial stromal cells:
We study the gene regulatory network of endometrial stomal cells and how it evolved. In particular we are interested in the role of transposable elements in providing novel cis-regulatory elements and in the role of transcription factor protein changes to allow the regulation of novel target genes.

Evolution of human parturition and spontaneous decidualization (menstruation):
Humans and higher primates are distinct from most other mammals in that 1) the endometrium differentiates each reproductive cycle even in the absence of a conceptus, and 2) parturition is initiated without systemic progesterone withdrawal. Interestingly these two characteristics are taxonomically co-extensive, i.e. are only found in humans and higher primates. In my lab we try to understand the genetic changes underlying both phenomena. This research is in collaboration with the NIH Perinatology Research Branch at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

Evolution of digit identity in birds:
The identity of the three definite digits in the bird wing is a longstanding problem in comparative anatomy. The problem is that these digits have the structure of digits 1, 2, and 3, but develop from embryonic positions 2, 3, and 4. In 1999 my colleague Jacques Gauthier and I proposed that this occurred because of a homeotic digit identity frameshift during the evolution of dinosaurs. Gene expression evidence supports this hypothesis and now we are working towards identifying the genetic changes which gave rise to the digit identity frame shift.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Mammals; Organisms

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Gunter Wagner's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

2022

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    Evolutionary Adaptive Systems

  • honor

    Humboldt Research Prize

  • activity

    Evoluntionary Mechanisms

  • honor

    Corresponding Member

  • honor

    Elected Fellow

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