[ Research Interests ] [ Representative Publications ]

Alex Bortvin Staff Member Carnegie Institution of Washington Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Biology MD, MS Pirogov’s Moscow Medical Institute Ph.D. Harvard University

Carnegie Institution of Washington     Department of Embryology 3520 San Martin Drive Baltimore, Maryland 21218 Office Telephone: Lab Telephone: Department Fax: Email: (410) 554-1234 (410) 554-1244 (410)-243-6311 bortvin@ciwemb.edu Carnegie Web Site Carnegie Institution of Washington

Research Interests The vast majority of existing animal species propagate by sexual reproduction.  The mechanism of sexual reproduction has evolved approximately 1 billion years ago and is possible because of existence of germ cells.  Fully differentiated germ cells are highly specialized cells that nonetheless have the potential to start the development anew following fertilization.  Germ cells, therefore, represent an excellent model system to explore the relationship between genetic and epigenetic regulation of the genome function and cellular differentiation. As a postdoctoral fellow with David Page at the Whitehead Institute, I have become interested in when and how germ cell progenitors segregate from the somatic precursors during mouse embryogenesis.  Over the past few years, this work provided a number of insights into molecular features that distinguish pluripotent embryonic and germ cells from differentiated somatic cells.  In the future, I plan to build upon my earlier studies and further explore the following problems of mammalian development: Origin of germ cells Role of developmental pluripotency-associated genes in control of development Epigenetic programming of development Representative Publications Bortvin A, Goodheart M, Liao M, Page DC.Dppa3 / Pgc7 / stella is a maternal factor and is not required for germ cell specification in mice. BMC Dev Biol. 2004 Feb 23;4(1):2. Bortvin A, Eggan K, Skaletsky H, Akutsu H, Berry DL, Yanagimachi R, Page DC, Jaenisch R. Incomplete reactivation of Oct4-related genes in mouse embryos cloned from somatic nuclei. Development. 2003 Apr;130(8):173-80.

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