About Professor Wolfgang Wurst

Academic Career and Research Areas

Prof. Wurst (b. 1955) explores the fields of molecular genetics, embryology, molecular neurogenetics and neural development in order to develop genetic methods to determine gene function in the entire organism.

Prof. Wurst studied biology and chemistry at the University of Freiburg. He completed his doctorate at the University of Göttingen in 1988 and stayed on for a year to do postdoctoral research. Following several years of postdoctoral work at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, he returned to Germany in 1994. He was junior research group leader at the Institute of Mammalian Genetics at the GSF Research Center in Munich and a group leader at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Psychiatry in 1997. Since 2002, Prof. Wurst has served as Head of the Chair of Developmental Genetics and Director of the Institute of Developmental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München. He is also Head of the “Molecular Research Genetics” research group at MPI. Prof. Wurst is actively involved in numerous international research projects and panels and holds 9 patents.

For further information, please also see: 

http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/en/idg/

http://www.professoren.tum.de/en/wurst-wolfgang/

http://www.dzne.de/index.php?id=704

A full publication list can be found here.

Institute of Developmental Genetics

Our vision is to help improving the quality of life for patients suffering from chronic diseases with a specific focus on neurological (Dementias, Parkinson´s Diseases, ALS) and psychiatric diseases (Major Depression).

Since genetic predisposition is a major risk factor for these diseases – and the function of most mammalian genes is not yet understood - we also envision to contribute to the functional annotation of the mouse genome.
ur mission is to contribute to the functional annotation of the mouse genome by performing large scale mutagenesis and developing continuously new genetic technologies in order to improve animal models of disease.

Furthermore, we aim at unraveling the molecular basis of the pathoetiology of psychiatric and neurological diseases by generating and comprehensively analysing genetic animal models. Specifically we consider the role of environmental factors on the etiology and progress of the diseases.

As a consequence the Institute of Developmental Genetics is structurally divided into two research areas: the Research Area "Mouse Genetics" and the Research Area "Neuropsychiatric Diseases