Gábor Vajta (born 25 August 1952) is a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

, human

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

and mammalian

embryologist Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

living in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

, Queensland, Australia. Vajta was an Honorary Professor of the BGI College, Shenzhen, China, and Adjunct Professor of the

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...

, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. After an early career (university lecturer, PhD) in human pathology he turned to embryology in 1989 and obtained a Doctor of Science degree in Domestic Animal Embryology at the

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (, abbr. KVL, , abbr. RVA) was a veterinary and agricultural science university in Denmark. It was founded in 1856 and operated until 2007, when it became a part of the University of Copenhagen. It ...

in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1999. During the past 25 years he has co-developed several patents relating to embryology, most notably the method of Handmade Cloning (HMC), the Submarine Incubation System (SIS), the Open Pulled Straw (OPS) vitrification and the Well of the Well (WOW) system. Currently Professor Vajta is director of a consulting company providing services in human and domestic animal embryology all over the world, and founder and Chief Scientific Officer of VitaVitro Biotech Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China.

Research

Gábor Vajta’s contribution in embryology includes authorship in 152 publications (PubMed), more than 16,000 citations with h-idex 66. He was author or co-editor of five books and theses, and reviewer of journals including

Human Reproduction Human sexual reproduction, to produce offspring, begins with fertilization. Successful reproduction typically involves sexual intercourse between a healthy, sexually mature and fertile male and female. During sexual intercourse, sperm cells are ...

; Reproductive Biomedicine Online;

Reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...

;

Biology of Reproduction ''Biology of Reproduction'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official journal of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. It is published with the assistance of Oxford University Press. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', ...

, Cryobiology; Reproduction, Nutrition, Development;

Reproduction, Fertility and Development ''Reproduction, Fertility and Development'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. The journal publishes original and significant contributions on vertebrate reproductive and developmental biology. Subje ...

; Theriogenology; Animal Reproduction Science; Reproduction in Domestic Animals; and Cellular Reprogramming.

Handmade cloning

Gábor Vajta had a substantial contribution in the development of handmade cloning (HMC). HMC is a radical technical modification of

Somatic cell nuclear transfer In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking a denucleated oocyte (egg cell) and implanti ...

of the original mammalian nuclear transfer technology established by Willadsen and applied for somatic cells by Wilmut and Campbell. The technique does not require micromanipulators only a simple stereomicroscope and an inexpensive fusion machine. All work is done by hand, with simple handheld tools (blade and micropipette). The first cloned animals in Africa and Scandinavia were both produced by HMC.

Transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

pigs as models for various human diseases were produced with putative genes responsible for

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalen ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...

Arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis, literally meaning "hardening of the arteries", is an umbrella term for a vascular disorder characterized by abnormal thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries; this process gradually restricts th ...

and

Diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or th ...

. The technology promises a new possibility for automation of the somatic cell nuclear transfer procedure. The birth of the first transgenic piglets containing the Alzheimer gene (29 October 2006) was rewarded as the Most important Scientific Achievement in Denmark in 2007.

Open pulled straw vitrification

The Open pulled straw (OPS), invented by Gábor Vajta is the first purpose-developed tool for mammalian embryo and

oocyte An oocyte (, oöcyte, or ovocyte) is a female gametocyte or germ cell involved in reproduction. In other words, it is an immature ovum, or egg cell. An oocyte is produced in a female fetus in the ovary during female gametogenesis. The female ger ...

vitrification that has resulted in many breakthroughs in human and animal

cryobiology Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος ryos "cold", βίος ios "life", and λ ...

including the first baby born after vitrification of human oocytes, and the first cloned mammal born after cryopreservation of the reconstructed embryo. OPS is also regarded as the most appropriate carrier tool for vitrification of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

References

External links

* Website of Gábor Vajt

* Publications of Gábor Vajta listed by PubMe

* Handmade Cloning websit

* Open Pulled Straw websit

Report on ABC: the birth of the first HMC offspring in Queensland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vajta, Gabor 1952 births Living people Embryologists People from Vác