Wolf Reik

Wolf Reik FRS is a molecular biologist, senior group leader and associate director at the Babraham Institute, professor of Epigenetics at the University of Cambridge and associate faculty at the Sanger Institute. Wolf Reik studies how additional information can be added to the genome through a range of processes collectively called epigenetics. He discovered some of the key epigenetic mechanisms important for mammalian development, physiology, genome reprogramming, and human diseases. His early work led to the discovery that the molecular mechanism of genomic imprinting is based on DNA methylation. He uncovered non-coding RNA and chromatin looping regulating imprinted genes, which he showed to be involved in fetal nutrition, growth, and disease. He discovered epigenetic reprogramming, including active demethylation, and showed that it was faulty in reproductive cloning and affects pluripotency of embryonic stem cells. He found that the environment influences epigenetic programming in embryos, with changes in gene expression persisting in adults and their offspring.

Contents

• Cshl 2015 symposium interview series wth wolf reik
• Epigenetics exposed Professor Wolf Reik FRS The Royal Society
• Awards and recognition
• References