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Elizabeth Robertson

{{short description|British geneticist}}

{{for2|English actress|Liz Robertson|American actress|Elizabeth Mitchell}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Liz Robertson

| birth_name = Elizabeth Jane Robertson

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRS|MAE|size=100}}

| image = File:Elizabeth_Robertson.jpg

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| workplaces = Columbia University
Harvard University
University of Oxford

| alma_mater = University of Oxford (BA, MA)
University of Cambridge (PhD)

| doctoral_advisor = Martin Evans

| awards = Royal Medal (2016)
EMBO Member (2002)
Suffrage Science award (2011)}}

Elizabeth Jane Robertson {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FRS|MAE}} is a British developmental biologist based at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford.[http://www.path.ox.ac.uk/research/molecular-biology/elizabeth-robertson-group Elizabeth Robertson group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020193311/http://www.path.ox.ac.uk/research/molecular-biology/elizabeth-robertson-group# |date=20 October 2013 }}, path.ox.ac.uk ; accessed 9 April 2018. She is Professor of Developmental Biology[http://www.stemcells.ox.ac.uk/directory/liz-robertson Liz Robertson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106030518/http://www.stemcells.ox.ac.uk/directory/liz-robertson# |date=6 November 2013 }}, stemcells.ox.ac.uk; accessed 9 April 2018. at Oxford and a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow.[http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Biomedical-science/Funded-projects/Awards-made/Wellcome-Fellows/WTD003260.htm#_R Principal Research Fellows] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514232650/http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Biomedical-science/Funded-projects/Awards-made/Wellcome-Fellows/WTD003260.htm#_R |date=14 May 2016 }}, wellcome.ac.uk; accessed 9 April 2018. She is best known for her pioneering work in developmental genetics, showing that genetic mutations could be introduced into the mouse germ line by using genetically altered embryonic stem cells.{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/elizabeth-robertson-12183/|title=Elizabeth Robertson {{!}} Royal Society|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-02-28}}{{Cite journal|last1=Schwartzberg|first1=P. L.|last2=Goff|first2=S. P.|last3=Robertson|first3=E. J.|date=1989-11-10|title=Germ-line transmission of a c-abl mutation produced by targeted gene disruption in ES cells|journal=Science|volume=246|issue=4931|pages=799–803|issn=0036-8075|pmid=2554496|doi=10.1126/science.2554496|bibcode=1989Sci...246..799S}} This discovery opened up a major field of experimentation for biologists and clinicians.{{Cite journal|last1=Mak|first1=T. W.|last2=Penninger|first2=J. M.|last3=Ohashi|first3=P. S.|date=2001|title=Knockout mice: a paradigm shift in modern immunology|journal=Nature Reviews. Immunology|volume=1|issue=1|pages=11–19|doi=10.1038/35095551|issn=1474-1733|pmid=11905810}}{{Cite journal|last1=Butler|first1=A. A.|last2=Cone|first2=R. D.|date=2001|title=Knockout models resulting in the development of obesity|journal=Trends in Genetics|volume=17|issue=10|pages=S50–54|issn=0168-9525|pmid=11585677|doi=10.1016/S0168-9525(01)02481-7}}{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Austin G.|s2cid=30030832|date=2001|title=Embryo-Derived Stem Cells: Of Mice and Men|journal=Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology|volume=17|issue=1|pages=435–462|doi=10.1146/annurev.cellbio.17.1.435|pmid=11687496}}

Education

Robertson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oxford.[http://f1000.com/prime/thefaculty/member/1114311773254853 Elizabeth Robertson: International Advisory Board in Developmental Biology], f1000.com; accessed 9 April 2018. She received a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1982 under the supervision of Martin Evans.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockefeller.edu/greengard-prize/recipients/robertson/|title=Elizabeth Robertson|website=Greengard Prize|language=en|access-date=2019-02-28}}

Career and research

After her PhD, she stayed on at the University of Cambridge for her postdoctoral fellowship and continued to work there as a research assistant following the completion of her fellowship. She was a professor first at Columbia University and then Harvard University before moving to the University of Oxford. In her lab at Columbia she was the first to show that embryonic stem cells carrying genetic mutations could contribute to all parts of the adult mouse body, including the cells that eventually make up the gametes, i.e. sperm and egg cells, allowing these mutations to be transmitted to the next generation. She used this approach to test the role of specific growth factors in embryonic development,{{Cite journal|last1=DeChiara|first1=T. M.|last2=Efstratiadis|first2=A.|last3=Robertson|first3=E. J.|date=1990-05-03|title=A growth-deficiency phenotype in heterozygous mice carrying an insulin-like growth factor II gene disrupted by targeting|journal=Nature|volume=345|issue=6270|pages=78–80|doi=10.1038/345078a0|issn=0028-0836|pmid=2330056|bibcode=1990Natur.345...78D|s2cid=4343800}} and to screen for previously unknown genes that prevent normal development.{{Cite journal|last1=Conlon|first1=F. L.|last2=Barth|first2=K. S.|last3=Robertson|first3=E. J.|date=1991|title=A novel retrovirally induced embryonic lethal mutation in the mouse: assessment of the developmental fate of embryonic stem cells homozygous for the 413.d proviral integration|journal=Development|volume=111|issue=4|pages=969–981|doi=10.1242/dev.111.4.969|issn=0950-1991|pmid=1879365}}{{Cite book|last1=Robertson|first1=E. J.|last2=Conlon|first2=F. L.|last3=Barth|first3=K. S.|last4=Costantini|first4=F.|last5=Lee|first5=J. J.|title=Ciba Foundation Symposium 165 - Postimplantation Development in the Mouse |chapter=Use of Embryonic Stem Cells to Study Mutations Affecting Postimplantation Development in the Mouse |date=1992|journal=Ciba Foundation Symposium|volume=165|pages=237–250; discussion 250–255|issn=0300-5208|pmid=1516471|doi=10.1002/9780470514221.ch14|series=Novartis Foundation Symposia|isbn=9780470514221}} Robertson's work was among the first to show that the disruption of many genes has surprisingly little effect on development and organismal phenotype,{{Cite journal|last1=Dudley|first1=A. T.|last2=Lyons|first2=K. M.|last3=Robertson|first3=E. J.|date=1995-11-15|title=A requirement for bone morphogenetic protein-7 during development of the mammalian kidney and eye|journal=Genes & Development|volume=9|issue=22|pages=2795–2807|issn=0890-9369|pmid=7590254|doi=10.1101/gad.9.22.2795|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Dudley|first1=A. T.|last2=Robertson|first2=E. J.|date=1997|title=Overlapping expression domains of bone morphogenetic protein family members potentially account for limited tissue defects in BMP7 deficient embryos|journal=Developmental Dynamics|volume=208|issue=3|pages=349–362|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-0177(199703)208:3<349::AID-AJA6>3.0.CO;2-I|issn=1058-8388|pmid=9056639|s2cid=32956921 |doi-access=}}{{Cite journal|last1=Solloway|first1=M. J.|last2=Robertson|first2=E. J.|date=1999|title=Early embryonic lethality in Bmp5;Bmp7 double mutant mice suggests functional redundancy within the 60A subgroup|journal=Development|volume=126|issue=8|pages=1753–1768|doi=10.1242/dev.126.8.1753|issn=0950-1991|pmid=10079236}} contributing to a long-running challenge in the understanding of the robustness of biological systems. She has also made significant contributions to the question of how the early embryo determines the anterior-posterior polarity that patterns the embryo from head to tail{{Cite journal|last1=Brennan|first1=J.|last2=Lu|first2=C. C.|last3=Norris|first3=D. P.|last4=Rodriguez|first4=T. A.|last5=Beddington|first5=R. S.|last6=Robertson|first6=E. J.|date=2001-06-21|title=Nodal signalling in the epiblast patterns the early mouse embryo|journal=Nature|volume=411|issue=6840|pages=965–969|doi=10.1038/35082103|issn=0028-0836|pmid=11418863|bibcode=2001Natur.411..965B|s2cid=4402639}}{{Cite journal|last1=Lu|first1=Cindy C.|last2=Robertson|first2=Elizabeth J.|date=2004-09-01|title=Multiple roles for Nodal in the epiblast of the mouse embryo in the establishment of anterior-posterior patterning|journal=Developmental Biology|volume=273|issue=1|pages=149–159|doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.06.004|issn=0012-1606|pmid=15302604|doi-access=free}} and the mechanisms that pattern the embryo from left to right.{{Cite journal|last1=Brennan|first1=Jane|last2=Norris|first2=Dominic P.|last3=Robertson|first3=Elizabeth J.|date=2002-09-15|title=Nodal activity in the node governs left-right asymmetry|journal=Genes & Development|volume=16|issue=18|pages=2339–2344|doi=10.1101/gad.1016202|issn=0890-9369|pmc=187443|pmid=12231623}}

Robertson currently serves as an editor of the journal Development.{{cite web|url=http://dev.biologists.org/content/edboard|title=Editors and Board|website=dev.biologists.org|language=en|access-date=2 March 2017}} She serves on the editorial boards of Developmental Biology,{{Cite book|url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/developmental-biology/editorial-board|title=Developmental Biology Editorial Board|website=Journals.elsevier.com|access-date=10 April 2018}} Current Opinion in Genetics & Development,{{Cite book|url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-opinion-in-genetics-and-development/editorial-board|title=Current Opinion in Genetics & Development Editorial Board|website=Journals.elsevier.com|access-date=10 April 2018}} and Developmental Cell.{{cite web|url=http://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/editorial-board|title=Developmental Cell Editorial Board|access-date=2 March 2017}}

Honours and awards

Robertson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to medical sciences.{{London Gazette|issue=64269|supp=y|page=N11|date=30 December 2023}}

References

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Category:Living people

Category:British geneticists

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:Female fellows of the Royal Society

Category:British women scientists

Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford

Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge

Category:Academics of the University of Oxford

Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellows

Category:British LGBTQ scientists

Category:British developmental biologists

Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences

Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire