Morris Soller

Morris Soller (born 1931) is an American-Israeli research professor in the Department of Genetics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is especially interested in livestock- and crop- genetics including trypanotolerance in cattle.

Early life and education

Soller was born in Manhattan, New York City in 1931.[1][2] At the age of 12 he was first inspired to learn about genetics by reading The Theory of the Gene by Thomas Hunt Morgan.[3][1][4]: ix  While an undergraduate he read Jay Laurence Lush's Animal Breeding Plans and learned much from it[1][3] – and interestingly would receive the award named for Lush 50 years later – see below.[3] Soller also learned much from the writings of Ronald Fisher and Sewall Wright during this time.[1] In 1951 he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture and then in 1956 both a Master's Degree in Applied Statistics and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Animal Breeding from Rutgers University.[2][3][1] He would later return to his birth country for further postdoctoral education at Indiana University and Roosevelt University in biochemistry.[2]

Research and teaching career

In 1957 he was hired by the Volcani Center as their senior scientist for animal breeding and by Bar-Ilan University as a senior lecturer of Biology and Genetics.[2] He moved his family to Israel where they have lived most of their lives since.[2] Between 1966 and 1972 Soller was a lecturer at Roosevelt University in the USA.[2] In 1972 he returned to Israel to lecture at the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the Department of Genetics.[2] He would eventually become a full professor and emeritus professor in 2000.[2] He has since continued actively in lecturing and research including sabbaticals as the Cotswold Visiting Scientist at Iowa State University, at the University of Illinois and elsewhere.[2]

Soller is the originator of quantitative trait locus mapping and marker-assisted selection.[2][3] He began noticing the statistical patterns and composing the mathematical tools that would be required for these techniques in 1974, while studying crop genetics and livestock genetics.[2] He went on to collaborate with his students and peers to create the F2,[2] backcrossing,[2] full sib,[2] half sib,[2] granddaughter,[2][3] AIL[2] and selective DNA pooling[2][3] techniques in QTL mapping.[2] Along with other laboratories around the world, his group developed some of the earliest restriction fragment length polymorphism markers for cattle and microsatellite markers for chickens.[3]

He has especially become known for using these techniques to analyse trypanotolerance in cattle, especially in the N'Dama breed.[2][1] Soller has also applied QTL analysis to dairy traits and Marek's disease.[2][1]

Professional recognition

• 1996 – American Association for the Advancement of Science elected him a Fellow[2]
• 1999 – Awarded the Jay L. Lush Award by the American Dairy Science Association[2][3]
• 2000 – Chosen to give the A. B. Chapman Lecture of the University of Wisconsin[2][3]
• 2000 – Honorary doctorate from Iowa State University[2][3] "for leading the way in the actual

discovery of genetic science"[5]: 119 

• 2007 – Honorary doctorate from the University of Liege, Belgium[2][3]
• 2012 – Honorary member of the International Society for Animal Genetics[6]
• 2012 – The journal Animal Genetics published a special issue in his honor.[3]

Publications

As of 2012^[update] Soller had authored and coauthored over 170 peer reviewed publications, and many book chapters and encyclopedia articles.[2][3] The organisms he has studied include cattle and chickens, but also extend to plants, viruses, mice, pigs and others.[3]

• Kemp, Stephen J.; Iraqi, Fuad; Darvasi, Ariel; Soller, Morris; Teale, Alan J. (1997). "Localization of genes controlling resistance to trypanosomiasis in mice". Nature Genetics. 16 (2). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 194–196. doi:10.1038/ng0697-194. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 9171834. S2CID 19998760. Localization of genes controlling resistance to trypanosomiasis in mice (Q58843113).

—Popularly cited including by[7][8][9][10][11]

• Soller, Morris (2015-02-16). "If a Bull Were a Cow, How Much Milk Would He Give?". Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. 3 (1). Annual Reviews: 1–17. doi:10.1146/annurev-animal-022114-110751. ISSN 2165-8102. PMID 25493539. S2CID 46733451.

— An autobiography Soller was invited to write by Annual Reviews

References

1. Soller, Morris (2015-02-16). "If a Bull Were a Cow, How Much Milk Would He Give?". Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. 3 (1). Annual Reviews: 1–17. doi:10.1146/annurev-animal-022114-110751. ISSN 2165-8102. PMID 25493539. S2CID 46733451.
2. "Soller" (PDF). International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG).
3. Khatib, Hasan (2012-06-28). "Foreword". Animal Genetics. 43 (s1). International Foundation for Animal Genetics (Wiley): 1. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2012.02390.x. ISSN 0268-9146. PMID 22742497. S2CID 26400727.
4. Womack, James E. (2012). Bovine genomics. Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. xi+271. ISBN 978-0-8138-2122-1. OCLC 780445244. ISBN 978-1-118-30173-9.
5. Iowa State University (2011). pp. 1–120 https://www.graduation.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/programs/program-s11.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. "Honorary Members". International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG). Retrieved 2022-02-08.
7. van der Waaij, Elisabeth Hillechien. Breeding for trypanotolerance in African cattle (phd). Animal Breeding and Genetics Group Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences. ISBN 90-5808-458-2. S2CID 80958484.
8. Kemp, S.J.; Teale, A.J. (1998). "Genetic Basis of Trypanotolerance in Cattle and Mice". Parasitology Today. 14 (11). Elsevier: 450–454. doi:10.1016/s0169-4758(98)01334-9. ISSN 0169-4758. PMID 17040846. S2CID 3253779.
9. Darvasi, Ariel (1998). "Experimental strategies for the genetic dissection of complex traits in animal models". Nature Genetics. 18 (1). Nature Portfolio: 19–24. doi:10.1038/ng0198-19. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 9425894. S2CID 25815459.
10. Naessens, J. (2006). "Bovine trypanotolerance: A natural ability to prevent severe anaemia and haemophagocytic syndrome?". International Journal for Parasitology. 36 (5). Australian Society for Parasitology (Elsevier): 521–528. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.384.4142. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.02.012. ISSN 0020-7519. PMID 16678182. S2CID 11889368.
11. d'Ieteren, G.D.M.; Authie, E.; Wissocq, N.; Murray, M. (1998-04-01). "Trypanotolerance, an option for sustainable livestock production in areas at risk from trypanosomosis". Revue Scientifique et Technique de l'OIE. 17 (1). O.I.E (World Organisation for Animal Health): 154–175. doi:10.20506/rst.17.1.1088. ISSN 0253-1933. PMID 9638808. S2CID 1188831.

External links

• "Morris Soller". The National Library of Israel. Retrieved 2022-02-08.