Robert Anthony Martienssen

thesis_title = The molecular genetics of alpha-amylase gene families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.382600 thesis_year = 1986 awards = website =

Robert Anthony Martienssen (born December 21, 1960) and professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, US.

Education Robert Martienssen attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge, supervised by David Baulcombe. He received an EMBO postdoctoral fellowship to travel to the University of California, Berkeley where he was a postdoctoral researcher with Michael Freeling from 1986 to 1988 where he showed that changes methylation of transposons could be associated with genetically heritable changes in the phenotype of corn plants. In 1989 he was hired as a principal investigator at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. yeast on small RNAs. He has extended his epigenetic studies from seeds to pollen, and his discoveries have implications for plant breeding — including hybrid cloning — and the development of biofuels. Newcomb-Cleveland Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2003 Breakthrough of the Year, Science, 2002 Elected a member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2010 McClintock Prize for plant genetics in 2018 The American Society of Plant Biologists Martin Gibbs Medal in 2019