Ethan Bier is a professor in the section of Cell and Developmental Biology at UC San Diego. He has been engaged in analysis of developmental pathways that establish the primary axes of the fruit fly embryo and larva in Drosophila for more than 30 years.  His group at UCSD also pioneered analysis of human disease using Drosophila as model system.  A major focus of this work was the identification of a cellular trafficking pathway as a key target of toxins produced by bacterial pathogens causing anthrax and cholera.  Most recently, Dr. Bier’s lab invented the CRISPR-based Active Genetics (e.g., gene drive) technology which is key to the team’s ability to create the humanized 9-in-9-out CYP450 rat quickly and efficiently.

Ethan received his Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School on regulation of immune genes in Dr. Allan Maxam’s laboratory. He did his postdoctoral studies on development of the nervous system at UCSD with Drs. Lily and Yuh Nung Jan (1985-90) and then assumed a faculty position at UCSD in 1990. He is an Alfred P. Sloan and Basil O’Connor Scholar.