Prof. Jennifer A. Graves who was invited by Dr. Li Hu, visited Yantai Institute of Costal Zone Research , Chinese Academy of Sciences from Nov. 3^rd to Nov. 5^th.

During the visit, Prof. Graves gave a presentation on “Sex determination by genes, chromosomes and the environment”. She introduced the genetic mechanism underlying gene sex determination (GSD) and temperature sex determination (TSD), including sex are determined by different XY/ZW systems in mammals, birds, reptiles, and affected by temperature in reptiles and fishes, as well as sex determination is influenced by the mutation of gene translocation, new transcript and epigenetic modification etc. She also patiently answered the audiences’ questions.

Prof. Graves obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of California (Berkeley) in 1971. She became a Distinguished Professor in La Trobe University from 2011. She made seminal contributions to the understanding of mammalian genome organization and evolution, exploiting the genetic diversity of Australia's unique animals as a source of genetic variation to study highly conserved genetic structures and processes. Prof. Graves has produced more than 400 research articles, and more than 30 manuscripts were published on top journals such as Nature, Science, Nature Genetics. She has many honors and awards, including she was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1999 and an International Member of the US National Academy of Science in 2019, and won the 2006 L’Oreal-UNESCO Laureate for Women in Science and 2017 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.

Fig.1 Prof. Graves’s presentation.

Fig.2  Prof. Graves visited YIC.