7INTERs3PRING 4HE'3!2EPORTER winter s spring 2012 New Executive GSA Welcomes 2012 Board Members Director Now on Board The Genetics Society of America New Members of the GSA Board of welcomes four new members elected Directors Adam P. Fagen, by the general membership to the Ph.D., stepped in as 2012 GSA Board of Directors. The VICE PRESIDENT: GSA’s new Executive new members are: Michael Lynch Michael Lynch, Director beginning (Indiana University), who serves as Distinguished December 1, 2011. vice president in 2012 and as GSA Professor of Dr. Fagen previously president in 2013 and Marnie E. Biology, Class of was at the American Halpern (Carnegie Institution for 1954 Professor, Society of Plant Science); Mohamed Noor (Duke Department of Biologists (ASPB), University); and John Schimenti Biology, Indiana where he was the director of public (Cornell University), who will serve as University, continued on page nineteen directors. Bloomington. Dr. Lynch is a population and evolutionary biologist and a In addition to these elected officers, long-time member of GSA. Dr. Lynch 2012 Brenda J. Andrews (University of sees GSA as the home for geneticists Toronto), Editor-in-Chief of GSA’s who study a broad base of topics GSA Award journal, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, and organisms, and as a forum Recipients which was first published online in where general discussion occurs, June 2011, becomes a member of the whether based on the principles Announced Board of Directors. The bylaws have of genetics, the most pressing historically included the GENETICS GSA is pleased to announce the issues within the discipline itself, or editor-in-chief on the Board and as a responses to societal concerns and/ 2012 recipients of its five awards result of a 2011 bylaw revision, the G3 for distinguished service in the or conflicts within applied genetics. editor-in-chief will now also have a seat His professional interests focus on field of genetics. The recipients on the Board. of these awards were nominated integrating the life sciences, from and selected by their colleagues. “We are delighted to have these molecular to cellular to whole They are: Katherine V. Anderson for prominent scientists and educators join organism biology, and emphasizing the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal; the Board this year and look forward the synthesis of empirical investigation Joanne Chory, for the Genetics to their leadership as the Society with well-grounded mathematical Society of America Medal; Therese continues to grow and evolve. We theory, a bridge made possible by Markow for the George W. Beadle thank the outgoing Board members for genetics. Award; David A. Micklos for the their dedicated service and continued DIRECTORS: Elizabeth W. Jones Award for involvement,” said GSA Executive Marnie E. Excellence in Education; and, Dana Director Adam P. Fagen. Halpern, Carroll for the Edward Novitski These new officers and directors Staff Member, Prize. began their tenure on January 1, 2012, Department of GSA President Philip Hieter, and will remain on the GSA Board until Embryology, said, “the individuals honored December 31, 2014. Carnegie Institution for Science; Adjunct continued on page fifteen continued on page four Genetics Society of America 1 4HE'3!2EPORTER 7INTERs3PRING Uniting Genetics for a Stronger GSA by Adam Fagen, Executive Director ’m very happy to be at GSA, working with the Board, membership, and staff to advance the interests of the genetics community and ensure a strong future for the Society. Coming to GSA brings me back to my roots: although my career path has brought me from Published three times a year the lab to science education and policy, genetics remains my scientific home in many and distributed by ways (See New Director article on page 1). The Genetics Society of America I It’s also nice to reconnect with the many members of the GSA community who I worked with as Volume 9, Number 1 an undergraduate and graduate student and in previous positions at the National Academy of officers Sciences/National Research Council and the American Society of Plant Biologists. Phil Hieter, President One of my goals for the Society is to make sure there are strong lines of communication among Michael Lynch, Vice President GSA members and with the staff and leadership. Towards this goal, we’re making better use of Paul W. Sternberg, Past President our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/GeneticsGSA) and Twitter feeds (http://twitter. Mariana F. Wolfner, Secretary com/GeneticsGSA) and will be making changes to the GSA website this year to make it more Carol S. Newlon, Treasurer useful and informative for GSA members and the public. Mark Johnston, GENETICS, And, we want to hear from you about what GSA is doing well, what we could be doing better, and Editor-in-Chief what more we could be doing. Brenda J. Andrews, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics Starting the Conversation Editor-in-Chief To start this conversation, I have a question “How do we bring the board of directors I’d like to ask: How do Utpal Banerjee we bring the entire genetics entire genetics community Bonnie Bartel community together across model Judith G. Berman systems while continuing to promote the together across model Elizabeth A. De Stasio strong sense of belonging among those systems...? Marnie E. Halpern who work with individual model organisms? Sue Jinks-Robertson Although the genetics community is strong and Jeannie T. Lee Mohamed A. F. Noor growing, it is also somewhat splintered. That is to say many of us identify at least as much with John C. Schimenti our own model organism as we do with the discipline of genetics. Yet there is something that Thomas J. Silhavy binds us together as geneticists: there are similar kinds of questions we answer and similar approaches we use, whether working in fruit flies or fruit plants, zebrafish or zebra finches. executive director We teach the same courses, apply for the same funding, and publish in many of the same Adam P. Fagen journals—including and especially in GENETICS and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. managing editor I know that many associate your interactions with GSA from participation in a GSA-sponsored Phyllis R. Edelman conference and join the Society at least partly because of discounts on meeting registration. But while GSA will continue to seek opportunities to bring in other model organism communities The publication of an advertisement in this newsletter does not constitute on the part of The Genetics (e.g., GSA is coordinating the International Conference on Zebrafish Development and Genetics Society of America a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of the advertised products or services for the first time this year), geneticists are using dozens of model systems for studying questions described in the advertisement, or of any of the of interest—and there’s an increasing tendency to move across systems in order to follow the representations or claims made by the advertisers with respect to such products or services. science where it leads. How do we best represent the interests of geneticists whether or not there’s a GSA-sponsored model organism conference for your research community? 9650 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20814-3998 Of course, many within our community don’t study specific model systems but focus on Tel: (301) 634-7300 fundamental and applied aspects of genetics more generally. How can the Society best serve Fax: (301) 634-7079 and integrate those who study population genetics, genomics, evolution, education, systems Email: [email protected] biology, and many other areas that are not limited to particular organisms? www.genetics-gsa.org Copyright ©2012 by the Genetics Society of America. All rights reserved. continued on page nine 2 Genetics Society of America president’s message 7INTERs3PRING 4HE'3!2EPORTER In October 2009, I attended the raised awareness. American Society of Human Genetics Comparison of the genome sequences (ASHG) Annual Meeting where the of E. coli, yeast, worm, fly, mouse, and 150th anniversary of the publication human directly demonstrated the of Darwin’s The Origin of Species striking extent to which all organisms was celebrated. In the opening are built from the same set of genes session, several talks reviewed how and highlighted the enormous value the determination and comparison of of model experimental organisms for the entire the study of evolutionarily conserved One of our goals must genome gene function. These landmark sequence also be to stimulate accomplishments showed that few, if from as interaction among any, biological processes are unique to few as four humans at the gene level. geneticists. patients suffering It became clear that fundamental Phil aspects of most human disorders Hieter from an “orphan disease” could reveal the can be informed through analysis of Connecting, single gene, mutated in each of orthologous genes and pathways in the four genomes, that is the major experimentally tractable organisms Communicating genetic determinant. I realized for by using sophisticated experimental the first time we were at the brink of toolboxes developed for each model and Collaborating an unprecedented era of mutation organism. And the aggregate of discovery in humans. Who could model organisms was much more How interaction among all have predicted, even four years ago, powerful than any one, because of the geneticists strengthens our when Jim Watson’s personal genome complementarity of their biology and community sequence was published in Nature experimental tools. by Phil Hieter, GSA President