Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch

Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch (October 6, 1907 – November 7, 2007) was a German-born U.S. geneticist and co-founder of the field of developmental genetics, which investigates the genetic mechanisms of development.

Biography Gluecksohn-Waelsch was born in Danzig, Germany to Nadia and Ilya Gluecksohn. She grew up in Germany between World War I and II, where her family faced hardships including her father's death in the 1918 influenza epidemic, severe post-war inflation, and intense antisemitic sentiment.

She studied chemistry and zoology in Königsberg and Berlin before she joined Spemann's laboratory at the University of Freiburg in 1928. She commented on both Spemann's nationalist tendencies and prejudice against women scientists; prejudices she faced as a Jewish woman limited her career options in Germany. In 1932 she received her doctorate from the University of Freiburg In the same year she married the biochemist Rudolph Schönheimer, with whom she escaped from Nazi Germany in 1933.

Scientific career Gluecksohn-Waelsch's scientific career started when L.C. Dunn hired her to his project involving breeding mice with a 'T locus' mutation. She co-authored over 100 publications on developmental genetics.

Her research showed that mutations in the Brachyury gene of the mouse caused the aberrant development of the posterior portion of the embryo and she traced the effects of this mutant gene to the notochord, which normally patterns the dorsal-ventral axis.

From 1968 to 1983 she collaborated with Carl Ferdinand Cori, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Awards and honors Gluecksohn-Waelsch's scientific work was honored late in life. In 1979, she became a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980. In 1982 the University of Freiburg presented her with the "Goldene Promotion", and in 1993 American president Bill Clinton presented her with the National Medal of Science. She became an overseas member of the Royal Society in 1995 and was awarded the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for "a lifetime contribution to the science of genetics" in 1999.

In 2010, the Freiburg-based Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM) and the AECOM Department of Genetics introduced the Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch Prize for the best dissertation.