Morris Soller (1931–) is a 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 1931 ^[1] in Manhattan, New York City, USA ^[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] [2] [4]: ix} While an undergraduate he read Jay Laurence Lush's Animal Breeding Plans and learned much from it ^{[2] [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. ^[2] 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. ^{[1] [3] [2]} He would later return to his birth country for further postdoctoral education at Indiana University and Roosevelt University in biochemistry. ^[1]

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. ^[1] He moved his family to Israel where they have lived most of their lives since. ^[1] Between 1966 and 1972 Soller was a lecturer at Roosevelt University in the USA. ^[1] 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. ^[1] He would eventually become a full professor and emeritus professor in 2000. ^[1] 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. ^[1]

Soller is the originator of quantitative trait locus mapping and marker-assisted selection. ^{[1] [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. ^[1] He went on to collaborate with his students and peers to create the F2, ^[1] backcrossing, ^[1] full sib, ^[1] half sib, ^[1] granddaughter, ^{[1] [3]} AIL ^[1] and selective DNA pooling ^{[1] [3]} techniques in QTL mapping. ^[1] 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. ^{[1] [2]} Soller has also applied QTL analysis to dairy traits and Marek's disease. ^{[1] [2]}

Professional recognition

• 1996 – American Association for the Advancement of Science elected him a Fellow ^[1]
• 1999 – Awarded the Jay L. Lush Award by the American Dairy Science Association ^{[1] [3]}
• 2000 – Chosen to give the A. B. Chapman Lecture of the University of Wisconsin ^{[1] [3]}
• 2000 – Honorary doctorate from Iowa State University ^{[1] [3]} "for leading the way in the actual

discovery of genetic science" ^[5]: 119

• 2007 – Honorary doctorate from the University of Liege, Belgium ^{[1] [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. ^{[1] [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

External links

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