Insect Transgenesis. Methods And Applications

Alfred M. Handler, Ph.D., is a Research Geneticist at the USDA, ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Handler received his B.S. in biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1972, and his Ph.D. in biology (developmental genetics) from the University of Oregon in 1977. He held a postdoctoral fellowship in genetics at the Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, from 1977 to 1979, and then joined die Developmental Biology Center at the University of California, Irvine as a research biologist from 1979 to 1985. During this time he was a visiting research associate at the Zoological Institute, University of Zürich, Switzerland and the Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt, Germany. In 1985 he joined the Agricultural Research Service in Gainesville, Florida, and in 1995 he was a visiting scientist at the Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, University of Montpellier II, France. Dr. Handler is the U.S. scientific coordinator for a cooperative scientific program between the USDA-ARS and the French Centre National Recherche Scientifiques (CNRS) on "Transgenesis of Invertebrate Organisms of Economic and Medical Importance." As part of this role he bas served as conference organizer for the "International Workshops on Transgenesis of Invertebrate Organisms." Dr. Handler bas served as a consultant and expert panel member for several international organizations in the field of insect genetics and transgenesis. Dr. Handler's research at the USDA-ARS bas centered on the use of transgenic insects for biological control programs. Most of his efforts have focused on the development of efficient gene transfer vector and marker systems. Anthony A. James, Ph.D., is Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Dr. James received his B.S. in biology from UCI in 1973, and his Ph.D. in developmental biology from UCI in 1979. He held postdoctoral positions in the Department of Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, and the Department of Biology, Brandeis University, before joining the faculty of the Department of Tropical Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1985. Dr. James returned to his alma mater in 1989, where he has remained. Dr. James was a principal investigator with the Network on the Biology of Parasite Vectors funded by die John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and was a recipient of die Molecular Parasitology Award from die Burroughs-Wellcome Fund. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Entomological Society of London. He is a founding editor of Insect Molecular Biology, and is on the editorial board of Experimental Parasitology. Dr. James' areas of interest include vector-parasite interactions, mosquito molecular biology, and other problems in insect developmental biology. His current work focuses on using genetic and molecular genetic tools to interrupt parasite transmission by mosquitoes.