Curt Stern

German American geneticist

Curt Stern (August 30, 1902 – October 23, 1981) was a German born American geneticist.

Curt Jacob Stern was born into a middle class Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany on August 30, 1902. He was the first son of Earned S. Stern, born 1862 in England, who was interned during World War I, and Anna Stern, née Anna Liebrecht who was a schoolteacher (b. 1873). Her father C. Liebrecht was a teacher at the Israelitische Gemeindeschule Gleiwitz, a "Gymnasium" in Upper Silesia, with a PhD in mathematics and natural sciences at the University of Breslau. His father dealt in antiques and dental supplies, and his mother was a schoolteacher. The family moved to a suburb in Berlin shortly after his birth. As a child, he showed a strong interest in biology and natural history. He went to the "Hindenburgschule" in Berlin Oberschoeneweide. Supported by two high school teachers and his parents, he decided to study zoology. He entered the University of Berlin in 1920 at age 18. Stern conducted his doctoral studies at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, which was a one to two hour commute each way from his home. He chose the lab of Max Hartmann, a protozoologist, to study the reproduction of a protozoan of the order Heliozoa. In 1923 after only 3 years, he received a Ph. D. for the description of its mitosis, the youngest person to receive a Ph. D. from the university at that time. "To achieve his degree so early under these circumstances was an early, clear signal of the remarkable combination of high intellectual ability, photographic memory, and stamina that was to characterize his career." Stern had read and critiqued a paper on the basis for crossing over by Richard Goldschmidt, the 45 year old director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology. Six months later Goldschmidt returned the critique to Stern without comment, called him into his office and offered him a post graduate fellowship financed by the Rockefeller University at Columbia University, N. Y. to study genetics in Thomas Hunt Morgan's lab, the famous "Fly Room", so named for the fruit fly Drosophila, the subject of genetic research for Morgan. Stern lived in New York City from 1924 to 1926. In 1926 his very first paper written in English was published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. After his fellowship, Stern returned to his alma mater, the University of Berlin, where he stayed for six very productive years from 1926 to 1932 as an investigator until he became a professor in 1928. There, he wrote the first two of his 5 books (Multiple Allelie, Handbuch der Vererbungswissenschaften, I. 147 pp. Berlin: Gebr. Borntraeger, 1930. and Faktorenkoppelung und Faktorenaustausch, 1933) and 35 papers. Most articles were about Drosophila genetics, but two hinted at areas he would pick up much later: one 1928 article delved into the topic of human genetics, and another one from 1929 about mutagenic effects of radiation. On October 29, 1931, Curt Stern married Evelyn Sommerfield, an American citizen, whom he had met 1925 at Columbia University. In 1941 Stern had become a full professor. From 1941 to 1947 he was chairman of the Department of Zoology and chairman of the Division of Biological Sciences. After 11 years in NY state, he left for Berkeley in 1947, age 45 to follow in the footsteps of his mentor Richard Golschmidt at the University of California at Berkeley where he had numerous doctoral students until his retirement in 1970. Stern was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1954. Curt Stern was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1970. His last public address was in 1973. Within 4 years his intellectual abilities had declined to such a degree, that he would not speak publicly anymore. He died of complications of Parkinson's disease, i. e. cardiac failure on October 23, 1981, in Sacramento, CA at the age of 79.

In 1931, Stern was the first to demonstrate crossover of homologous chromosomes in Drosophila melanogaster, only weeks after Barbara McClintock and Harriet Creighton had done so in maize (corn). In 1936, he demonstrated that recombination can also take place in mitosis resulting in somatic mosaics, organisms that contain two or more genetically distinct types of tissues. He later demonstrated that there were multiple genes on the Drosophila Y chromosome, and described the mechanism of dosage compensation. After World War II had begun, Stern fully entered the field of human genetics, supervising his first graduate student seminar in 1939. Stern's seminar was a response to the eugenic idea of racial hygiene, so prominent in Europe and the U. S. at that time, which had made it impossible for him to continue to live in Germany. During World War II, he led research for the American government on low dose radiation safety, building on work he had started in Berlin. Only two more articles published in German language journals followed, besides the hundreds in English. He must have continued to read German science books, as he reviewed them for Science for example.

The Curt Stern Award, established by the American Society of Human Genetics in 2001, recognizes a scientist who has made major scientific achievements in human genetics during the past 10 years.

Stern C. "Die genetische Analyse der Chromosomen". Naturwissenschaften, 1927, 15:465 73. Stern C. "Der Einfluss der Temperatur auf die Ausbildung einer Fluegelmutation bei Drosophila melanogaster". Biol. Zentralbl., 1927, 47:361—69. Stern C. Ueber Chromosomenelimination bei der Taufliege. Naturwissenschaften, 1927, 15:740 46. Stern C. Ein genetischer und zytologischer Beweis fuer Vererbung im Y chromosom von Drosophila melanogaster. Z. Indukt. Abstamm. Vererbungsl., 1927, 44:187 231. Stern C. Experimentelle Erzeugung von Mutationen. Naturwissenschaften, 1927, 15:528. Stern C. Fortschritte der Chromosomentheorie der Vererbung. Ergeb. Biol., 1928. 4:205 359. Stern C. Elimination von Autosomenteilen bei Drosophila melanogaster. Z. Indukt. Abstamm. Vererbungsl., 1928 Suppl. 11:1403 4. Stern C. Allgemeine Genetik. Zuechtungskunde., 3:1—7. Stern C. Ueber Vererbung. Allg. Dtsch. Hebammenz, 44.1928. Stern C. Die Physiologie des Generationswechsels. Naturforscher, 1928. 5:497 508. Stern C. Welche Moeglichkeiten bieten die Ergebnisse der experimentellen Vererbungslehre dafuer, dass durch verschiedene Symptome charakterisierte Nervenkrankheiten auf gleicher erblicher Grundlage beruhen? Nervenarzt, 1928. 2:257 62. Stern C. Ueber die additive Wirkung multiplier Allele. Biol. Zentralbl., 1929. 49:261 90. Stern C. Ueber Letalfaktoren und ihre Bedeutung fur die Haustierzucht. Zuechter, 1929, 1:264 70. Stern C. Ueber Reduktionstypen der Heterochromosomen von Drosophila melanogaster. Biol. Zentralbl., 1929. 49:718 35. Stern C. Untersuchungen uber Aberrationen des Y Chromosoms von Drosophila melanogaster. Z. Indukt. Abstamm. Vererbungsl., 1929. 51:253—353. Stern C. Die Bedeutung von Drosophila melanogaster fur die genetische Forschung. Zuechter, 1929.1:237 43. Stern C. Kleinere Beitraege zur Genetik von Drosophila melanogaster. I. Ein Hemmungsfakator der Purpuraugenfarbe. Z. Indukt. Abstamm. Vererbungsl., 1929. 52:373 89. Stern C. Erzeugung von Mutationen durch Roentgenstrahlen. Nat. Mus.1929:577 83. Stern C. Die Mutationsrate bei Drosophila und ihre Abhaengigkeit von der Aussentemperatur. Naturwissenschaften, 1929. 17:155 56. Stern C. Kleinere Beitrage zur Genetik von Drosophila melanogaster. Z. II. Gleichzeitige Rueckmutation zweier benachbarter Gene. Z. Indukt. Abstamm. Vererbungsl.1930. 53:279 86. Stern C. Ueber Reduktionstypen der Heterochromosomen von Drosophila melanogaster. Biol. Zentralbl., 1930. 49:718 35. Stern C, Guyenot E. La variation et revolution. Tome I. La variation. Naturwissenschaften, 1930 8:940. Stern C. Konversionstheorie und Austauschtheorie. Biol. Zentralbl., 1930 50: 608–24. Stern C. Der Kern als Vererbungstrager. Naturwissenschaften, 1930 18:1117—25. Stern C. Entgegnung auf die Bemerkungen von Franz Weidenreich zu meinem Aufsatz "Erzeugung von Mutationen durch Roentgenstrahlen" (Dezember Heft 1929 dieser Zeitschrift). Nat. Mus.1930 :133 34. Stern C, Sekiguti K. Analyse eines Mosaikindividuums bei Drosophila melanogaster. Biol. Zentralbl., 1931 51:194 99. Stern C, Ogura S. Neue Untersuchungen uber Aberrationen des Y Chromosoms von Drosophila melanogaster. Z. Indukt. Abstamm. Vererbungsl., 193158:81 121. Zytologisch genetische Untersuchungen als Beweise fur die Morgansche theorie des Faktorenaustausches. Biol. Zentralbl., 1931.51:547 87. Stern C. Karl Belar zum Gedachtnis. Naturwissenschaften, 19:921—23. Stern C. Faktorenaustausch und Austausch von Chromosomenstucken. Forschungen Fortschr., 1931. 7:447 48. Stern C. Ein Beweis der Morganschen Theorie des Faktorenaustausches. Z. Abstgsl., 1931. 62. Stern C. Review of The Development of Sex in Vertebrates, by F. W. R. Brambell. Naturwissenschaften, 1931 19:324. Stern C. Intercambio de factores e intercambio de partes de cromosomas. Invest. Prog. Madrid, 1932. 6:156—57. Stern C. Die Chromosomentheorie der Faktorenkoppelung. Naturwissenschaften, 1932.20:193 201. Stern C. Der Austausch der Erbmerkmale beruht auf Austausch von Chromosomenstuecken. Naturforscher, 1932 9:10—18. Stern C. Zur Deutung eines letalen Effekts in Kreuzungen zwischen Vicia faba major und Vicia faba minor. Z. Abstamm. Vererbungsl., 1932.64:169 72. Stern C, A. Burkart. Untersuchungen ueber eine spontane Chromosomenverlagerung bei Drosophila melanogaster. Z. Abstgsl., 1933 64: 310–25.