Gershon Eran Ph.D.
- Institute of Animal Sciences
- Cattle and Sheep Research
- +972-506220190
- +972-89484423
Biography
My research area is female reproduction. Both, my MSc and PhD projects were
conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science under the supervision of Prof. Nava
Dekel. During my Ms.C. studies, I investigated the involvement of cdc25B in
resumption of meiosis in rat oocytes. My Ph.D. study focused on defining the
molecular mechanisms involved in ovulation. and exploration of the role of the gap
junctions protein, Connexin (Cx)43 in mediating cell-to-cell communication within the
ovarian follicle. On my first postdoctoral training, under Dr. Alon Chen, at
Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, I have explored the effects of stress on
fertility. Thereafter, I have continued to a second post-doctoral trainee in the
laboratory of Prof. Wylie Vale in the Salk institute for biological studies, in San Deigo,
California. There my research directed at the interaction of the CRF family of
peptides/receptors and ghrelin, a gut-brain hormone, involved in appetite control
revealed that ghrelin elicits CRF-mediated metabolic effects on muscle cells. At 2012
I have opened the lab in the animal science institute at the agricultural research
organization (ARO). My laboratory research focuses on ruminant fertility.
Education
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1995-1998
B.Sc. in Animal Science, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Rehovot, Israel
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1998-1999
B.Sc. in Life Science, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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1999-2002
M.Sc. in Life Science, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Title of thesis: Cdc25 in Rat Oocytes Resuming Meiosis: Expression, Regulation and Function Supervision by: Prof. Nava Dekel
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2002-2007
Ph.D. in Life Science, The Weizmann Institute of Science Title of thesis: Molecular Characterization of the Ovulatory Cascade Supervision by: Prof. Nava Dekel
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2007-2009
Postdoctoral position at The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Neurobiology, Rehovot, Israel; with Dr. Alon Chen Research subject: The molecular mechanisms mediating the central stress response and fertility
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2009-2012
Postdoctoral position at The Salk Institute for Biological Science, Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, La Jolla, California, USA; with Prof. Wylie Vale Research subject: The relationships between central stress system and the gut petides
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2012-to date
Research Scientist at the ARO, The Volcani Center, Institute of Animal Science
Research Interests
The research in my laboratory focuses on two main topics. The first one is the
crosstalk between the embryo and the mother in the preimplantation stages
from fertilization to the attachment of the embryo to the uterus wall, and the
development of the placenta. This research aim to unveil the genes and
factors that are involved in this crosstalk and during implantation. For this
purpose, I have developed a method to manipulate genes specifically within
the embryonic side of the placenta using lentivirus. In addition, in the last few
years we have established a method for genome editing in sheep. These
involved establishing protocols for ovum pick up from the ovary, oocytes
maturation, fertilization and embryo growing in vitro up to the blastocyst stage.
In addition, we have gained the required skills of microinjection of
CRISPR/CAS9 to target any desired gene of interest.
Research Areas
- mammals fertility
- embryo implantation and placenta formation
- maternal-embryo communication
- Genome editing in farm animals
- IVF in farm animals