Anne Villeneuve is an American geneticist. She is known for her work on the mechanisms governing

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

inheritance during

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...

. Her work focuses on

meiosis Meiosis () is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, the sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately result in four cells, each with only one c ...

, the process by which a

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

organism, having two sets of chromosomes, produces

gametes A gamete ( ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. The name gamete was introduced by the Ge ...

with only one set of chromosomes. She is a Professor of Developmental Biology and of Genetics at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

Career

Villeneuve earned a B.S. in Biochemistry at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1981, and a Ph.D. in Biology from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in 1989, where she worked on sex determination and dosage compensation in the laboratory of Barbara J. Meyer. She joined Stanford University as an Independent Fellow in 1989 and began to work on meiosis. She joined the faculty at Stanford in 1995. Her work has been instrumental in establishing the

nematode The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a Hybrid word, blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''r ...

'' as a major model system for investigating how

homologous chromosome Homologous chromosomes or homologs are a set of one maternal and one paternal chromosome that pair up with each other inside a cell during meiosis. Homologs have the same genes in the same locus (genetics), loci, where they provide points along e ...

s pair up during meiosis, and how they recombine, exchanging genetic information. Her work has helped elucidate whether mechanisms of meiotic recombination are conserved from

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

multicellular organism A multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell (biology), cell, unlike unicellular organisms. All species of animals, Embryophyte, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organism ...

Awards and honors

* 2019:

Genetics Society of America Medal The Genetics Society of American Medal is a medal awarded by the Genetics Society of America for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics in the last 15 years. The Medal was established by the society in 1981 and recognizes members who ha ...

* 2017: Member,

* 2016: Member,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* 2016: American Cancer Society Research Professor Award, American Cancer Society * 2003: Kirsch Investigator Award, Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation * 1999: Junior Faculty Scholar Award,

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

* 1996: Searle Scholars Award, Chicago Community Trust

References

External links

Anne Villeneuve (Stanford Profiles)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villeneuve, Anne American geneticists American women biologists Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Stanford University faculty Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American biologists