 | John R. Carlson |
John R. Carlson, recently named as the Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, focuses his research on the highly sensitive olfactory systems of insects.
His laboratory identified the first insect odor receptors and taste receptors. The researchers used a novel computer algorithm to identify the genes encoding odor receptors, the Or genes, in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. There are 60 types of Or genes, and Carlson's laboratory systematically analyzed the responses of the insects' antennae to determine the molecular basis of odor coding.
The team also analyzed the response properties of olfactory neurons, and has constructed a receptor-to-neuron map of the antenna. Recently, the researchers analyzed the odor sensitivities of receptors from the mosquito Anopheles gambiae and showed that one female-specific receptor responds strongly to a component of human sweat. Carlson's laboratory also identified a large family of taste receptor genes, the Gr genes, and has shown that one is a receptor for the sugar trehalose.
The team's work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Human Frontiers Science Program, among others.
Carlson holds a patent for Drosophila odorant receptors and another for novel taste receptors in Drosophila is pending. The author or co-author of over 80 papers, Carlson has spoken widely at seminars and conferences throughout the world.
Carlson received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1977 and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1982. He pursued postdoctoral research at Stanford before coming to Yale in 1986. A member of numerous University committees and a mentor to many students, Carlson received Yale's Dylan Hixon Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Natural Sciences in 1998.
His other honors include a McKnight Investigator Award, the Silverstein-Simeone Award from the International Society of Chemical Ecology and a Senior Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation (see related story, page 9). He serves on the editorial boards of Insect Molecular Biology and Genes, Brain and Behavior. Carlson is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among numerous other professional organizations.
T H I S
Carlson appointed to Higgins Professorship
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