Greg Barsh, M.D., Ph.D.
Visiting Investigator

Dr. Barsh is professor of genetics and pediatrics and associate chair of the Department of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine, and a visiting investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute. Barsh received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington; obtained postgraduate training at UC Los Angeles and UC San Francisco, and has been a member of the Stanford faculty for 18 years. His research program is focused on the genetic architecture of color variation in laboratory mice and in natural populations of mammals, including humans. His research accomplishments based on the application of mouse coat color genetics to basic problems in cell signaling, gene regulation, and human disease have been recognized by several awards, including the E Mead Johnson Award from the Society of Pediatric Research, and the Takeuchi and Seiji Awards from the International Society for Pigment Cell Research. He is also a former investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, director of the Stanford Medical Scientist Training Program, and deputy editor of PLoS Genetics.

Research interests

• Forward genetic analysis of skin color and pigment-type switching in laboratory mice
• Biology of melanocortin signaling
• Genetic architecture of human pigmentary variation
• Biology and evolution of color patterns in mammals

Selected publications
Miller, MW, Duhl, DMJ, Vrieling, H, Cordes, SP, Ollmann, MM, Winkes, BM and Barsh, GS. Cloning of the mouse agouti gene predicts a secreted protein ubiquitously expressed in mice carrying the lethal yellow mutation. Genes & Dev 7:454-467, 1993.

Vrieling, H, Duhl, DMJ, Miller, KA, Wolff, GL and Barsh, GS. Neomorphic agouti mutations in obese yellow mice. Nature Genetics 8:59-65, 1994.

Cordes, SP and Barsh, GS. The mouse segmentation gene kr encodes a novel basic domain/leucine zipper transcription factor. Cell 79:1025-1034, 1994.

Ollmann, MM, Wilson, BD, Yang, YK, Kerns, JA, Chen, Y, Gantz, I and Barsh, GS. Antagonism of central melanocortin receptors in vitro and in vivo by agouti-related protein. Science 278:135-138, 1997.

Ollmann, MM, Lamoreux, ML, Wilson, BD and Barsh, GS. Interaction of Agouti protein with the melanocortin 1 receptor in vitro and in vivo. Genes & Dev 12:316-330, 1998.

Gunn, TM, Miller, KA, He, L, Hyman, RW, Davis, RW, Azarani, A, Schlossman, SF, Duke-Cohan, JS and Barsh, GS. The mouse mahogany locus encodes a transmembrane form of human attractin. Nature 398:152-156, 1999.

He, L, Gunn, TM, Bouley, DM, Lu, X-Y, Watson, SJ, Schlossman, SF, Duke-Cohan, JS and Barsh, GS. A biochemical function for attractin in agouti-induced pigmentation and obesity. Nat Genet 27:40-47, 2001.

Fitch KR, McGowan KA, van Raamsdonk CD, Fuchs H, Lee D, Puech A, Herault Y, Threadgill DW, Hrabe de Angelis M, Barsh GS. Genetics of dark skin in mice. Genes Dev 17:214-228, 2003.
He L, Lu XY, Jolly AF, Eldridge AG, Watson SJ, Jackson PK, Barsh GS, Gunn TM. Spongiform degeneration in mahoganoid mutant mice. Science 299:710-712, 2003.

Candille, S. I., Raamsdonk, C. D., Chen, C., Kuijper, S., Chen-Tsai, Y., Russ, A., Meijlink, F. and Barsh, G. S. Dorsoventral patterning of the mouse coat by tbx15. PLoS Biol 2, 32-42, 2004.
Van Raamsdonk, C.D., Fitch, K.R., Fuchs, H., de Angelis, M.H. & Barsh, G.S. Effects of G-protein mutations on skin color. Nat Genet 36, 961-968, 2004.

Kerns JA, Cargill EJ, Clark LA, Candille SI, Berryere TG, Olivier M, Lust G, Todhunter RJ, Schmutz SM, Murphy KE, Barsh GS. Linkage and segregation analysis of black and brindle coat color in domestic dogs. Genetics 176:1679-1689, 2007.

Candille SI, Kaelin CB, Cattanach BM, Yu B, Thompson DA, Nix MA, Kerns JA, Schmutz SM, Millhauser GL, Barsh GS. A -defensin mutation causes black coat color in domestic dogs. Science 318:1418-1423, 2007.