Judith Mank

Last updated
Judith Elizabeth Mank
Born1976 (age 4647)
Alma mater University of Georgia
University of Florida
Pennsylvania State University
Scientific career
Institutions University of Oxford
University College London
University of British Columbia
Thesis The evolution of reproductive and genomic diversity in ray-finned fishes  (2006)

Judith Elizabeth Mank is an American-British zoologist who is a Canada 150 Chair at the University of British Columbia. She studies how evolution produces variation in animals. She is interested in sexual dimorphism and the formation of sex chromosomes.

Contents

Early life and education

Mank studied anthropology at the University of Florida. [1] She moved to Pennsylvania State University for graduate studies, joining the School of Forest Resources. [1] After completing her master's degree she moved to the University of Georgia for doctoral research. Her research considered reproductive diversity in fish. [2] [3]

Research and career

Following her postdoctoral work at Uppsala University, Mank was a lecturer at the University of Oxford from 2008-2012, and then professor at University College London from 2012-2018. [4] She joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia in 2018 as a professor and Canada 150 Chair. [5] Her research includes the evolution of sex chromosomes and the genetics underlying sex differences. [6] Her work has revealed fundamental properties of the earliest stages of Y chromosomes formation. [7] Mank makes use of genomic data to understand how ecological factors effect genome evolution, and how sex differences are encoded within the genome. She has studied the genetics of female mate preference in guppies, and how this affects the diversity and genetics of pigmentation in males. [8]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

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Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. A male organism produces small mobile gametes, while a female organism produces larger, non-mobile gametes. An organism that produces both types of gamete is called a hermaphrodite. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inherits traits from each parent.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex-determination system</span> Biological system that determines the development of organisms sex

A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism. Most organisms that create their offspring using sexual reproduction have two common sexes and a few less common intersex variations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Y chromosome</span> Sex chromosome in the XY sex-determination system

The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms. Along with the X chromosome, it is part of the XY sex-determination system, in which the Y is the sex-determining because it is the presence or absence of Y chromosome that determines the male or female sex of offspring produced in sexual reproduction. In mammals, the Y chromosome contains the SRY gene, which triggers development of male gonads. The Y chromosome is passed only from male parents to male offspring.

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In biology, gonochorism is a sexual system where there are only two sexes and each individual organism is either male or female. The term gonochorism is usually applied in animal species, the vast majority of which are gonochoric.

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Nettie Maria Stevens was an American geneticist who discovered sex chromosomes. In 1905, soon after the rediscovery of Mendel's paper on genetics in 1900, she observed that male mealworms produced two kinds of sperm, one with a large chromosome and one with a small chromosome. When the sperm with the large chromosome fertilized eggs, they produced female offspring, and when the sperm with the small chromosome fertilized eggs, they produced male offspring. The pair of sex chromosomes that she studied later became known as the X and Y chromosomes.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">XO sex-determination system</span> Biological system that determines the sex of offspring

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZW sex-determination system</span> Chromosomal system

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References

  1. 1 2 "Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Judith Mank, Ph.D." Judith Mank, Ph.D. (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  2. Mank, Judith Elizabeth. "The evolution of reproductive and genomic diversity in ray-finned fishes" . Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  3. "Prof. Judith Mank - AcademiaNet". www.academia-net.org. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  4. "The Mank Group". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  5. "The Mank Group". www.zoology.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  6. Dr. Judith Mank: Genetics of Sex Difference | Researchers Revealed , retrieved 2022-09-03
  7. "Fish Species' Y Chromosomes Diverged Even Without Recombination". The Scientist Magazine. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  8. "Judith Mank | Biodiversity Research Centre". biodiversity.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  9. "Awards". www.amnat.org. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  10. "Society for the Study of Evolution". www.evolutionsociety.org. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  11. "Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Judith Mank, Ph.D." Judith Mank, Ph.D. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  12. "Judith Mank_Scientific Medal.jpg". Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  13. "Articles | Biosciences | University of Exeter". biosciences.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  14. Naylor, David (21 October 2019). "New Honorary Doctors Appointed at Uppsala University - Uppsala University, Sweden". www.uu.se. Retrieved 2022-09-02.