Elly Tanaka, scientific director at the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), examines the regeneration of complex body structures. At its main model, the Axolotl, she identified those cells and mechanisms that are responsible for the fact that the animals can regenerate their limbs and other organs, such as spinal cord and brain.
The milestones of their research include the development of methods to produce transgener salamander as well as the identification of the minimally necessary molecular mechanisms for the complete regeneration of axolotl members. However, Tanaka’s research is not limited to Salamander. Based on her findings about the Axolotl, she investigates why mammals have lost their ability to regenerate in the course of evolution. For example, she was able to show that fibroblasts that contribute to scarring in mammals are converted into stem cells in the Axolotl after an injury, from which limbs regenerate.
In addition, your work serve as a starting point for the development of new strategies for regeneration or to replace mammalian tissue. This also results in promising opportunities for human medicine: Tanaka and her team, for example, were able to make stem cells forming retinal tissue including the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), the pigment layer of the retina. Tanaka and their team use these cells to look for potential drugs that could fix defects in the RPE cells, which are known to lead to progressive blindness. In other projects, the Tanaka Group examines the regeneration of the Axolotl heart after an injury and the new formation of neuronal circuits.
About Elly Tanaka
Elly Tanaka studied biochemistry at the University of California in San Francisco/USA and at Harvard University in Boston/USA. After a research stay at the Ludwig Cancer Research Institute in London/UK, she switched to the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden. Since 2008 she has held a professorship for regeneration animal models at the Technical University of Dresden. From 2014 to 2016 she was also a director of the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD). From 2016 to 2024 she worked as a senior scientist at the research institute for Molecular Pathology in Vienna/Austria. Since 2024 she has been a scientific director on Institute for Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna. In 2024, Elly Tanaka was included in Leopoldina in the genetics/molecular biology and cell biology section.
About the Schleiden Medal
The Schleiden Medal is named after the academy member Matthias Jacob Schleiden (1804-1881). The botanist is a co -founder of cell theory. The medal has been awarded by Leopoldina for excellent knowledge in the field of cell biology since 1955.
Imba Institute for Molecular Biotechnology GmbH
Sylvia Weinzettl
Telephone: +43 1 79044 – 4403
E-mail: sylvia.weinzettl@imba.oeaw.ac.at
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