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Genetics Laureates

2024
Hugo Bellen head shot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2024 Genetics Prize to Hugo J. Bellen for ushering in a new era of model system genetics with direct impact on human disease.

2023
Allan Jacobson Headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2023 Genetics Prize to Allan Jacobson and Lynne Elizabeth Maquat for discoveries and pioneering studies on the mRNA surveillance mechanism known as Nonsense Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD).

2023
Lynne Maquat Headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2023 Genetics Prize to Allan Jacobson and Lynne Elizabeth Maquat for discoveries and pioneering studies on the mRNA surveillance mechanism known as Nonsense Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD).

2022
Ruth Lehmann Headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2022 Genetics Prize to Ruth Lehmann, James Priess, and Geraldine Seydoux for discovering how early nematode (Priess and Seydoux) and fruitfly (Lehmann) embryos set aside particular cells during development, especially germ cells that result in intergenerational inheritance.

2022
James Priess Headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2022 Genetics Prize to Ruth Lehmann, James Priess, and Geraldine Seydoux for discovering how early nematode (Priess and Seydoux) and fruitfly (Lehmann) embryos set aside particular cells during development, especially germ cells that result in intergenerational inheritance.

2022
 Geraldine Seydoux Headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2022 Genetics Prize to Ruth Lehmann, James Priess, and Geraldine Seydoux for discovering how early nematode (Priess and Seydoux) and fruitfly (Lehmann) embryos set aside particular cells during development, especially germ cells that result in intergenerational inheritance.

2021
Stuart H. Orkin headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2021 Genetics Prize to Stuart Orkin for discoveries of the genetic and molecular basis of common blood diseases and the gene regulatory mechanisms that govern blood cell development. 

2020
Bonnie Bassler headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2020 Genetics Prize to Bonnie Bassler for pioneering and ground-breaking discoveries illuminating the molecular language of bacterial communication through quorum sensing.

2019
Bert Vogelstein headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2019 Genetics Prize to Bert Vogelstein for discoveries of new genetic pathways and processes contributing to cancer.

2018
Joane Chory headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2018 Genetics Prize to Joanne Chory and Elliot Meyerowitz for pioneering discoveries in genetic regulatory and biochemical mechanisms underlying plant development.

2018
Elliot Meyerowitz headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2018 Genetics Prize to Joanne Chory and Elliot Meyerowitz for pioneering discoveries in genetic regulatory and biochemical mechanisms underlying plant development.

2017
Stephen J. Elledge headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2017 Genetics Prize to Stephen Elledge for discovering and characterizing the molecular mechanisms of the DNA damage response pathway in eukaryotic cells.

2016
Michael Grunstein headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2016 Genetics Prize to Michael Grunstein and David Allis for the discovery of the role of histone proteins and their covalent modification in the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression.

2016
C. David Allis headshot

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2016 Genetics Prize to Michael Grunstein and David Allis for the discovery of the role of histone proteins and their covalent modification in the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression.

2015

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2015 Genetics Prize to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for establishing a framework for universal genome editing.

2015

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2015 Genetics Prize to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for establishing a framework for universal genome editing.

2014

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2014 Genetics Prize to Victor Ambros, David Baulcombe, and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of small non-coding RNAs and the demonstration of their central roles in the regulation of development and gene expression.

2014

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2014 Genetics Prize to Victor Ambros, David Baulcombe, and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of small non-coding RNAs and the demonstration of their central roles in the regulation of development and gene expression.

2014

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2014 Genetics Prize to Victor Ambros, David Baulcombe, and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of small non-coding RNAs and the demonstration of their central roles in the regulation of development and gene expression.

2013

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2013 Genetics Prize to Svante Pääbo for pioneering the analysis of ancient DNA.

2012

The Gruber Foundation presents the 2012 Genetics Prize to Douglas Wallace for the discovery of mutations in the mitochondrial genome and their impact on human health.

2011

The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation presents the 2011 Genetics Prize to Ronald W. Davis, a pioneer in the development and application of recombinant-DNA techniques.

2010

The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation presents the 2010 Genetics Prize to Gerald R. Fink, a founder of modern yeast genetics and a leader in the use of model-organism genetics to study diverse biological problems.

2009

The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation presents the 2009 Genetics Prize to Janet Davison Rowley, a founder of the field of cancer cytogenetics and a renowned leader in molecular oncology.

2008
Allan C. Spradling Headshot

The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation presents the 2008 Genetics Prize to Allan C. Spradling, a leader in developmental genetics and stem cell biology.

2007
Maynard Olson Headshot

The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation presents the 2007 Genetics Prize to Maynard V. Olson, a founder of the field of genomics.

2006
Elizabeth Blackburn Headshot

The Peter Gruber Foundation presents the 2006 Genetics Prize to Elizabeth H. Blackburn for telomeres and telomerase.

2005
Robert Hugh Waterston Headshot

The Peter Gruber Foundation presents the 2005 Genetics Prize to Robert Hugh Waterston, a pioneer in the field of genomics.

2004

The Peter Gruber Foundation presents the 2004 Genetics Prize to Mary-Claire King, for genetically locating a gene predisposing to breast cancer and pioneering the use of DNA testing in human rights.

2003
 David Botstein Headshot

The Peter Gruber Foundation presents the 2003 Genetics Prize to David Botstein, for contributions covering much of genetics: from methods of mutagenesis of bacteria and yeast, to analysis of bacteriophage assembly and eukaryotic cell biology, to principles of the application of genetic polymorphisms for mapping the human genome.

2002
H. Robert Horvitz Headshot

The Peter Gruber Foundation presents the 2002 Genetics Prize to Robert Horvitz, for relentless use of genetic tools to reveal and dissect mechanisms of human development and behavior.

2001
Rudolf Jaenisch Headshot

The Peter Gruber Foundation presents the 2001 Genetics Prize to Rudolf Jaenisch, for fundamental contributions to our knowledge of genome function and regulation.