Ralf Josef Sommer (born 23 September 1963) is a German

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

specializing in

evolutionary developmental biology Evolutionary developmental biology, informally known as evo-devo, is a field of biological research that compares the developmental biology, developmental processes of different organisms to infer how developmental processes evolution, evolved. ...

Scientific career

Sommer studied biology at the

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

, at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

and at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

where he obtained his

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

degree in 1989 and earned his Ph.D. in the lab of

Diethard Tautz Diethard Tautz (born 17 August 1957 in Glonn) is a German biologist and geneticist, who is primarily concerned with the molecular basis of the evolution of mammals. Since 2006 he is director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology ...

on a study of the evolution of segmentation genes in insects in 1992. His work was one of the first

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

studies in the field of evolutionary developmental biology ( evo-devo in short), a discipline that started its revival in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From 1993-1995 he was a Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Since 1999, he has been Director of the department Evolutionary Biology at the

Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ( ...

in Tübingen, Germany and was appointed Adjunct Professor (Honorarprofessor) at the University of Tübingen in 2002. He is awardee of the FALCON Prize of the German Society for Cell Biology and was head co-organizer of the 19th International C. elegans Conference, UCLA, USA in 2013. In 2015 he was elected as an EMBO member.

Professional contributions

Ralf Sommer works in the field of evolutionary developmental biology on

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 ...

s. He has developed and established the nematode ''Pristionchus pacificus'' as a

model system A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided into ...

for integrative studies in evolutionary biology. Described in 1996 as a new species by Sommer and co-workers, ''P. pacificus'' has grown as an important model system, in which laboratory studies that aim for a mechanistic understanding of evolution can be combined with fieldwork. The latter allows ecological and population genetic studies to complement the gene-centered and development-centered perspectives of evo-devo. The original work of Sommer´s research focused on the evolution of developmental processes showing that homologous structures can be generated by distinct molecular mechanisms, a phenomenon now known as developmental systems drift. More recent work incorporates many additional areas of evolutionary biology. The nematode ''P. pacificus'' is associated with

scarab beetles The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 35,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change. Several groups formerly tre ...

, an observation that provides an ecological framework and represents one of the cornerstones of his current research. Similarly, a

population genetic Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and popula ...

framework for ''P. pacificus'' research has been established with the identification and exploration of La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, where this nematode shows an extraordinary genetic diversity. ''P. pacificus'' work on La Réunion Island is supported by a field station at the local Insectarium in Le Port. The integrative research program on ''P. pacificus'' represents a major paradigm shift for studying

phenotypic In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

evolution, by simultaneously investigating in one organism, the same patterns and processes from independent evolutionary perspectives. Consequently, the most recent studies investigate the evolution of novelty, focusing on developmental (phenotypic) plasticity as a facilitator of biological diversity. Specifically, the combination of laboratory studies with fieldwork allows new insight into the molecular mechanisms of developmental plasticity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommer, Ralf J. 1963 births Living people Max Planck Society people German evolutionary biologists University of Tübingen alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni 21st-century German biologists Max Planck Institute directors