Functional Genetics

This years Wittgenstein Award goes to Josef Penninger, a biomedical researcher whose work has contributed enormously to an understanding of the mechanisms underlying diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. One of the worlds most high-profile scholars in the field of life sciences, he has published more than 52 primary papers in Nature, Science and Cell and has been listed twice among the top ten scholars worldwide in the ISI Web of Knowledge. Numerous international distinctions testify to his scientific standing. Honours awarded to him include being elected an AAAS Fellow and receiving the Innovator Award of the U.S. Department of Defence. He is also one of the very few scholars who have been awarded two ERC Advanced Grants. Covering a huge spectrum, Josef Penningers research has been rewarded by several ground-breaking accomplishments. Two of them merit special mention: Josef Penninger and his team succeeded in establishing a system of yeast genetics for pluripotent stem cells in mammals. The researchers created haploid embryonic stem cells in the laboratory and went on to develop systems for the mutagenesis of entire genomes. This feat not only represented a paradigm change in biology, but also led to a technology that could potentially revolutionise functional genetics as we know it today. A second aspect that is inseparably linked to the achievements of Josef Penninger is his work on the Receptor Activator of NF-.B Ligand (RANKL), encompassing everything from first genetic validation to novel therapeutic approaches in medicine. RANKL is connected to virtually all diseases associated with bone loss, a finding that has only been known for a few years thanks to Josef Penningers scientific work. The fact that this could also give rise to a promising angle for the treatment of breast cancer and a new approach to curbing the generation of metastases in bone is an excellent example of the phenomenon of serendipity in scholarly research- luck meets a prepared mind. Penningers developments in the field of haploid stem cells could potentially revolutionise the field of functional genomics. His trailblazing new findings on the fundamental physiology of metabolic processes in bones, the connection to mammary gland biology, the understanding of the processes underlying the phenomenon of (bone) metastasis formation and his achievements in breast cancer research are evidence of the enormous productivity of Josef Penninger and his research teams. With his research, Josef Penninger has made essential contributions to opening up completely new fields of medical therapy.