Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard

Facts

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1995

Born: 20 October 1942, Magdeburg, Germany

Affiliation at the time of the award: Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Tübingen, Germany

Prize motivation: “for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development”

Prize share: 1/3

Life

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard was born in Heyrothsberge, Germany, as one of five children in a large family. Her father was an architect and both her parents were interested in art and music. Aged just 12, Christiane decided to pursue a career in biology. She studied biology at Goethe University in Frankfurt, but later moved to Tübingen, where she studied biochemistry before undertaking graduate studies at the Max Planck Institute. She went on to work at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg before returning to the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen in 1984.

Work

Among more advanced organisms, life begins when a fertilized egg divides and forms new cells which, in turn, also divide. Initially these cells appear identical, but in time, they begin to change. Some cells go to make up the heart, others nerve paths, and still others strands of hair, for example. Genes regulate this process. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus studied the development of fruit flies and, around 1980, succeeded in identifying and classifying the 15 genes that direct the cells to form a new fly.

To cite this section
MLA style: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 19 Mar 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1995/nusslein-volhard/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.

Explore and learn