Christiane Nusslein-Volhard
Christiane Nusslein-Volhard
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhardis a German biologist. She won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995, together with Eric Wieschaus and Edward B. Lewis, for their research on the genetic control of embryonic development. Today she lives in Bebenhausen, Germany...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth20 October 1942
CountryGermany
five october second war
I was born during the war, on October 20, 1942, as the second of five children. My father, Rolf Volhard, was an architect.
cannot change changing genes genome humans methods people
People think if you have deciphered the genome of humans that you can change everything. But you cannot change everything, because you do not know what the genes mean, and you have no methods for changing them, and you can't do experiments with humans like you can with animals.
humans numbers required work
Humans are something very different from animals, and the numbers required to get cloning to work in animals are completely prohibitory with humans.
books buy difficult encouraged freedom parents toys
I had a happy childhood, with many stimulations and support from my parents who, in postwar times, when it was difficult to buy things, made children's books and toys for us. We had much freedom and were encouraged by our parents to do interesting things.
intensely interested learned obsessed projects remember topics
I remember that already as a child I was often intensely interested in things, obsessed by ideas and projects in many areas, and in these topics I learned much on my own, reading books.
school determined study
At the time I finished high school, I was determined to study biology, deeply convinced to eventually be a researcher.
passion creativity men
I think there are profound differences between women and men. In intelligence and creativity, there is no difference, but in what one loves, what one likes, the passions - there are differences.
science eggs organization
In systemic searches for embryonic lethal mutants of Drosophila melanogaster we have identified 15 loci which when mutated alter the segmental patterns of the larva. These loci probably represent the majority of such genes in Drosophila. The phenotypes of the mutant embryos indicate that the process of segmentation involves at least three levels of spatial organization: the entire egg as developmental unit, a repeat unit with the length of two segments, and the individual segment.
girl intelligent thinking
I think women who are pretty certainly have an advantage in any field, in any profession. When a girl is born people still say: Oh, I'm glad that she is pretty. They don't look at whether she is intelligent.
stupid coffee thinking
I know labs where women refuse to make a coffee for others because they don't want to be seen doing seemingly female things. I think this is stupid. Why not make a coffee, bring a cake? I do it.
men thinking desire
I think women are just as gifted when it comes to science as men are. But I think their wishes and desires are different and this is also shaped by the society in which they live.
kids home wife
If woman wants to have kids and work a little less she has a big disadvantage compared to a male colleague who has a stay-at-home wife packing his suitcases.
father kids successful
I had a very intense relationship with my father, who was always extremely interested in what we kids were doing. I actually think the secret of many successful women is having a father who encourages them.
thinking people attention
I think there is too much attention on mentoring. If people want to be scientists, they will figure out how to do it. They need to figure it out by themselves.