Reinhard F. Stocker (born 1944) is a Swiss biologist. He pioneered the analysis of the sense of smell and taste in higher animals, using the fly Drosophila melanogaster as a study case. He provided a detailed account of the anatomy and development of the olfactory system, in particular across metamorphosis, for which he received the Théodore-Ott-Prize of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences in 2007, and pioneered the use of larval Drosophila for the brain and behavioural sciences.
Life, education and scientific career Reinhard Felix Stocker was born on March 12, 1944, in Basel, Switzerland as the middle of three sons to Heidi and Emil Stocker, a chemist with J.R. Geigy AG, Basel. He grew up in Riehen near Basel and received his Matura in 1963 at the Realgymnasium Basel. In 1963 Stocker enrolled as student of Zoology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. He received his PhD with the grade summa cum laude in 1972 for a thesis featuring an electron-microscopy investigation of the development of the ventral nerve cord of the ant Myrmica laevinodis during metamorphosis, supervised by Hans Nüesch. There followed two studies with Hans Nüesch, likewise using electron microscopy, on how the nerve-muscle contacts develop in pupal and early adult stages of the butterfly Antheraea polyphemus. Inspired by breakthrough insights into how genes orchestrate development in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, Stocker turned his attention to the role of the Antennapedia gene in neurogenetic development. The Antennapedia gene is one of a family of homeotic genes that determine the identity of body segments. In 1971, Postlethwait and Schneiderman (Devel. Biol. 25, 606-640) had discovered that in mutants of this gene the appendages of one of the head segments develop not as an antenna, as in the wild-type fly, but as a thoracic leg. As a post-doc at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA (1974 to 1975), and mentored by John S. Edwards, Gerold Schubiger, John Palka and James W. Truman, Stocker revealed how this change in segment identity – or the surgical displacement of appendages – affects the connections of sensory neurons from the appendage towards the central brain. The developmental neurogenetics of the sensory systems in Drosophila melanogaster then emerged as Stocker's main research interest throughout his further career. In 1976 Stocker returned to the University of Basel, and in 1978 accepted a position as post-doctoral researcher (Assistant docteur) at the Institute of Zoology (later Department of Biology) at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where he was tenured as post-doctoral fellow (Maître-assistant) in 1980. Summarized in his Habilitation at the University of Fribourg from 1985, Stocker's studies combined dye-filling of neurons, electron microscopy and the manipulation of the developmental fate of neurons by homeotic mutations. Adopting the Gal4-UAS method for the cell-type specific manipulation of neurons as established by Brand and Perrimon in 1993 (Development 118, 401-415), this allowed him and his co-workers to describe at unprecedented detail and completeness the first relay of the olfactory system, the antennal lobe, and how it develops during metamorphosis. These studies were instrumental to map the wiring of olfactory sensory neurons expressing different olfactory receptor genes to these glomeruli and to understand the functional significance of this wiring for the combinatorial coding of odours. They were also the basis for his promotion as Professor (Professeur associé) at the University of Fribourg in 1993, and were cited by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences in awarding him the Théodore-Ott-Prize in 2007. Over the years the Stocker lab at Fribourg University provided early insight into the neurogenetic and developmental bases of chemosensation and sexual behaviour as well as into the origin of chemosensory neurons and their fate across metamorphosis. From the 1990s on, Stocker and his co-workers furthermore established larval D. melanogaster as a study case for research into the behavioural neurogenetics of chemosensation and chemosensory learning, and the central brain circuits serving these functions (see Scientific publications: 34., 39., 47., 48., 50., 51., 55.-57., 59.-78.). Across his career, Stocker's scientific interests thus gradually shifted from the sensory periphery towards the central nervous system and behaviour. This ‘outside-in’ approach was grounded in a precise and complete description of the anatomy and development of the neuronal systems under study. Characteristic of his work furthermore is the pioneering, early-adopting use of new methods and technology, including electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, cell-type specific transgene expression, and the use of larval Drosophila melanogaster as a study case for the brain and behavioural sciences. After his retirement from the University of Fribourg in 2011, Stocker published a book of fiction.
Distinctions 2007: Théodore Ott Prize of the Swiss Academy of Medical Science 2008-today: Editorial board of The Journal of Comparative Neurology
Technical collaborators and mentees Technical collaborators and lab management: Martine Schorderet, Nanaë Gendre PhD students: Markus Lienhard, Madeleine Tissot, Klemens Störtkuhl, François Python, Julien Colomb, Mareike Selcho, Dennis Pauls Post-docs: Hans Schmid, Klemens Störtkuhl, Gertrud Heimbeck, Bertram Gerber, Ariane Ramaekers, Nicola Grillenzoni, Andreas Thum
Congress organization and co-organization 2004: "Neurofly", Neuchâtel, Switzerland 2007: "Swiss Drosophila Meeting", Fribourg 2009: "Swiss Society of Neuroscience", Fribourg 2010: "Swiss Drosophila Meeting", Fribourg 2010: "Drosophila Maggot Meeting: Neural Circuits to Behavior", Bangalore, India
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