Thomas C. Kaufman

Thomas Charles Kaufman is an American geneticist. He is known for his work on the zeste-white region of the Drosophila X chromosome. He is currently a distinguished professor of biology at Indiana University,

Early life and education Kaufman enrolled in California State University at Northridge in 1962. ” hypothesis. Their results helped to estimate the size of the Drosophila genome long before gene sequencing was a thing. Kaufman went on to join David Suzuki’s group at the University of British Columbia. He served as a postdoctoral associate, and their research involved temperature sensitive mutations. In 1983, Kaufman became an associate professor at Indiana University, where he remains. It was during this time that Kaufman defined the antennapedia gene complex. He discovered that this cluster of genes controlled the anterior segments in the embryo and adults. Kaufman broadened his work to examine the HOX gene (homeotic gene clusters) in insects. In his personal statement for the National Academy of Sciences he states that "The goal of my laboratory is to contribute to an understanding of the genetic regulation development of higher organisms. The homeotic (Hox) genes of Drosophila melanogaster have been our principal focus. Homeotic lesions cause one portion of the animal to be transformed into an identity normally found elsewhere. The role of the Hox genes is best viewed as a set of developmental switches for decisions of segmental fate. The encoded homeodomain has shown that this switch activity is carried out through the transcriptional regulation of target genes." He has expanded his research from Drosophila to include several other insects and members of other subphylums under the phylum Arthopoda, such as Crustacea, Chelicerata and Myriapoda. He uses the technique of RNA-mediated gene inhibition (RNAi) to study the evolution of the HOX gene. 2008, Member, National Academy of Science 2007, Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science 2005, George W. Beadle Medal 1999, Member, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1998, Conklin Medalist 1993, Distinguished professor of biology at Indiana University Member, Genetics Society of America Member, Drosophila Genome Project