New Haven, Conn. — The 2025 Gruber Genetics Prize is being awarded to geneticist and molecular biologist Prof. Rotem Sorek, Ph.D., of the Weizmann Institute of Science, for his discoveries in the immune system of bacteria. Using a novel approach method that combined computational approaches with an experimental system, Sorek and his colleagues conducted wide scale screens of tens of thousands of bacterial genomes, identifying an astounding number of defense systems used against infection by viruses called phages. This led to the discovery that parts of the human immune system originated as bacterial defense systems against phages.
The Gruber Genetics Prize, which includes a $500,000 award, will be presented to Sorek in a ceremony later this year.
“These discoveries have led to a better understanding of the human immune system, as well as identified a number of promising candidates for antiviral therapies,” says Geraldine Seydoux, the Huntington Sheldon Professor in Medical Discovery in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a member of the Selection Advisory Board.
“Sorek’s discoveries have already had multiple impacts,” says Allan Spradling, professor at the Carnegie Institution/HHMI and chair of the Selection Advisory Board. “His discoveries that bacterial immune defense systems are conserved in the human immune system has reshaped our understanding of human immunity. Meanwhile, his widescale approach to studying microbial defense systems has opened up new avenues for potential therapies.”
The Gruber Foundation was established in 1993 by the late Peter Gruber and his wife Patricia Gruber. The Gruber International Prize Program honors individuals in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics, and Neuroscience, whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture. The Selection Advisory Boards choose individuals whose contributions in their respective fields advance our knowledge and potentially have a profound impact on our lives.
