Prof. Omaya Dudin is recipient of the Friedrich Miescher Award 2026, Switzerland’s highest distinction for outstanding achievements in biochemistry. He is recognized for uncovering how unicellular organisms evolved into multicellular life forms.
All animals develop from a single-celled zygote through complex morphogenetic processes, yet the evolutionary origins of these mechanisms remain unclear. A major challenge is the limited cell biological data from microbial eukaryotes occupying pivotal phylogenetic positions, including the closest unicellular relatives of animals. Close animal relatives such as Ichthyosporeans display diverse developmental strategies, offering unique opportunities to probe how cells coordinate, establish polarity, and differentiate, posing critical questions about the transition to multicellularity.
To broaden this inquiry, we are implementing Expansion Microscopy (ExM) across a wider diversity of microbial eukaryotes, uncovering diverse cellular forms, cytoskeletal architectures, and life cycles. Our long-term goal is to establish an Expansion Microscopy Atlas of Microbial Eukaryotes, identifying general principles underlying multicellular transitions across eukaryotic life.
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Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
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