John G. White (biologist) explained

John White
Birth Name:John Graham White
Birth Place:Wales
Thesis Title:Computer aided reconstruction of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans
Thesis Url:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.233920
Thesis Year:1975
Doctoral Advisor:Sydney Brenner
Doctoral Students:Richard Durbin[1]
Known For:Research using Caenorhabditis elegans

John Graham White [2] (born 1943) is an Emeritus Professor of Anatomy and Molecular Biology[3] [4] at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[5] [6] [7] His research interests are in the biology of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and laser microscopy.

Education

White was educated at Brunel University, where he was awarded an undergraduate degree in Physics in 1969.[3] He went on to study for his PhD[8] at University of Cambridge in 1975 for work on computer-aided reconstruction of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans supervised by Sydney Brenner.[3]

Research and career

After working at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, White moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1993.[3] White's research investigates cell division in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] With collaborators Sydney Brenner,[14] [15] John Sulston[16] and others, White co-developed confocal microscopy and mapped the complete nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans, consisting of 302 neurons and over 7000 synapses. The study was published in 1986 by the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,[15] and is considered to be the first work in the emerging field of connectomes. More recently his research used:

White identified the first gene with a demonstrated role in determining synaptic specificity. He studied the role of cell–cell interaction in determining the lineage pattern, stimulating a wide field of research. In more recent work, White and his co-workers partially confirmed his earlier model of cytokinesis; they discovered genes controlling cytokinesis and found features previously thought specific to plant cell division. Recognising the potentialities of laser-scanning confocal microscopy, White built a prototype microscope: with Brad Amos he developed this into a commercially produced instrument now widely used.[2] His former doctoral students include Richard Durbin, [1] other notable former students include Ahna Skop, Julie Ahringer and Tony Hyman.

Awards and honours

White was the recipient of the Mullard Award in 1994. He was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 1994[17] and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2005.[2]

The Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hosts a biennial seminar series named in honor of John White. Featured speakers have included:

Personal life

White has been professor emeritus since he retired in 2008.[3]

Notes and References

  1. PhD . Richard Michael. Durbin . Studies on the development and organisation of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans . University of Cambridge . 1987 . . Richard M. Durbin.
  2. Web site: Anon . 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151117112042/https://royalsociety.org/people/john-white-12519/ . 17 November 2015 . Dr John White FRS . royalsociety.org . London . One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
  3. White . J. G. . Getting into the mind of a worm—a personal view . 10.1895/wormbook.1.158.1 . . 1–10 . 2013 . 23801597 . 4781474.
  4. Web site: White, John - UW-Engineering Directory, College of Engineering @ The University of Wisconsin-Madison . 9 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131209052257/http://directory.engr.wisc.edu/bme/faculty/white_john . dead .
  5. Squirrell . J. M. . Wokosin . D. L. . White . J. G. . Bavister . B. D. . Long-term two-photon fluorescence imaging of mammalian embryos without compromising viability . Nature Biotechnology . 17 . 8 . 763–767 . 1999 . 10.1038/11698 . 10429240. 5087329.
  6. 10.1016/0012-1606(81)90284-0 . Kimble . J. E. . Judith Kimble. White . J. G. . John White (biologist). On the control of germ cell development in Caenorhabditis elegans . Developmental Biology . 81 . 2 . 208–219 . 1981 . 7202837.
  7. Chalfie . M. . Eddy . S. . Sean Eddy. Hengartner . M. O. . Hodgkin . J. . Jonathan Hodgkin. Kohara . Y. . Plasterk . R. H. . Waterston . R. H. . White . J. G. . John White (biologist). Genome maps. VI. Caenorhabditis elegans. Wall chart . Science . 270 . 5235 . 415–430 . 1995 . 7569996. 10.1126/science.270.5235.410. 42933365 .
  8. PhD . John. White . Computer aided reconstruction of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans . University of Cambridge . 1975 . . 500588370. cam.ac.uk.
  9. Hyman . A. A. . White . J. G. . Determination of cell division axes in the early embryogenesis of Caenorhabditis elegans . The Journal of Cell Biology . 105 . 5 . 2123–2135 . 1987 . 3680373 . 2114830 . 10.1083/jcb.105.5.2123.
  10. Podbilewicz . B. . White . J. G. . John White (biologist). Cell fusions in the developing epithelial of C. Elegans . Developmental Biology . 161 . 2 . 408–424 . 1994 . 8313992 . 10.1006/dbio.1994.1041.
  11. White . J. . John White (biologist). Strome . S. . Cleavage plane specification in C. Elegans: How to divide the spoils . Cell . 84 . 2 . 195–198 . 1996 . 8565065 . 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80974-5. free .
  12. O'Connell . K. F. . Leys . C. M. . White . J. G. . John White (biologist). A genetic screen for temperature-sensitive cell-division mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans . Genetics . 149 . 3 . 1303–1321 . 1998 . 10.1093/genetics/149.3.1303 . 9649522 . 1460235.
  13. Hird . S. N. . White . J. G. . John White (biologist). Cortical and cytoplasmic flow polarity in early embryonic cells of Caenorhabditis elegans . The Journal of Cell Biology . 121 . 6 . 1343–1355 . 1993 . 8509454 . 2119718 . 10.1083/jcb.121.6.1343.
  14. 10.1098/rstb.1976.0086 . White . J. G. . Southgate . E. . Thomson . J. N. . Brenner . S. . The structure of the ventral nerve cord of Caenorhabditis elegans . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences . 275 . 938 . 327–348 . 1976 . 8806. 1976RSPTB.275..327W . free .
  15. 10.1098/rstb.1986.0056 . White . J. G. . John White (biologist). Southgate . E. . Eileen Southgate. Thomson . J. N. . Brenner . S. . Sydney Brenner. The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences . 314 . 1165 . 1–340 . 1986 . 22462104. 1986RSPTB.314....1W . free .
  16. Sulston . J. . John Sulston. Schierenberg . E. . White . J. G.. John White (biologist). Thomson . J. . The embryonic cell lineage of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . Developmental Biology . 100 . 1 . 64–119 . 1983 . 6684600. 10.1016/0012-1606(83)90201-4.
  17. Web site: John G. White. people.embo.org. Anon. 1994.

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