Miescher-Ishida Prize

The Miescher-Ishida Prize was initiated by Dr. Masahiro R. Ishida "in commemoration of the discoveries of nuclear and extranuclear DNA" to acknowledge outstanding scientists who have made unique findings in the field of endocytobiology or contributed to the development of this science.

The Miescher-Ishida Prize is presented by the International Society of Endocytobiology (ISE) and the University of Tübingen.

Miescher-Ishida Prize Foundation

• The MIESCHER-ISHIDA PRIZE has been established to recognize outstanding scientists who discovered or gave unique findings in the field of endocytobiology and to those who have contributed to the development of this science.

• The establishment of the MIESCHER-ISHIDA PRIZE was suggested by Dr. Masahiro R. Ishida in 1986 and sponsored originally with gold-plated medals, "In commemoration of the discoveries of nuclear and extranuclear DNA". It was later supplemented with 30.000 DM funds by Prof. Dr. Masahiro R. Ishida on the occasion of his retirement.

• The Prize is awarded in recognition for the DNA isolation by Dr. Friedrich Miescher in Tübingen 1869, and by Dr. Masahiro R. Ishida, who first extracted chloroplast DNA together with Dr. R. Sager in 1961.

• The Foundation has no legal capacity. Its funds will be administered under the status of a special endowment by the 'Vereinigung der Freunde der Universität Tübingen (Universitätsbund) e.V.', a non-profit corporation.

Awardees of the Miescher-Ishida Prize:

• 1986 - Dr. Lynn Margulis: Resurrection and expansion of the Endosymbiotic Hypothesis (see Endocytobiosis & Cell Research, in the following IJECR, here: IJECR 3 (1986): 245)

• 1987 - Dr. Kwang W. Jeon: Classic work on interactions between Amoeba proteus and intracellular bacteria (IJECR 5 (1988): 109)

• 1988 - Dr. Constantin Vago: Early approach to endocytobiology, e.g. intracellular latency of pathogenes (IJECR 6 (1989): 233)

• 1989 - Dr. Masahiro Sugiura: First complete DNA sequences of the plastomes from several higher plants (IJECR 9 (1992): 78)

• 1990 - Dr. Hashime Ishikawa: Discovery of Symbionin and the role of stress proteins in symbiosis (IJECR 9 (1992): 78)

• 1991 - Dr. Peter Sitte: Pioneering work on electron microscopy and evolution of cryptophyte nucleomorphs (IJECR 12 (1998): 218)

• 1992 - Dr. Jean M. Whatley: Concept of cyclical development of plastids and electron microscopical support of Serial Endosymbiosis Theory (IJECR 12 (1998): 219)

• 1993 - Dr. Leonard Muscatine: Introduction of green hydra as laboratory model system for studying endocytobioses, outstanding work on metabolism and economy of invertebrate symbioses (IJECR 12 (1998): 220)

• 1994 - Dr. Robert K. Trench: First description of metabolite flux from kleptochloroplasts to host, leading work on Symbiodinium microadriaticum and C. paradoxa (IJECR 12 (1998): 221)

• 1995/6 - Dr. Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa: Innovative work on cytokinesis as well as of organelle division and discovery of „division rings“ in mitochondria and plastids of algae.

• 1997/8 - Dr. William Martin and Dr. Miclos Müller: Consequent use of molecular cladistic methods in protein evolution research showed a phylogenetic mosaic composition of whole metabolic pathways in eukaryotic cells (Martin), and strong molecular and biochemical exploration of cell organelle related metabolism let discover a new type of eukaryotic exogenosomal cell organelles, the hydrogenosomes (Müller). During the following common work they developed the new and fruitful „Hydrogen hypothesis for the first eukaryote“.

• 1999/2000 - Dr. Margaret J. McFall-Ngai and Dr. Edward G. Ruby: Their complementary work on a complex sqid/luminous bacteria association (Euprymna/Vibrio), offers this example of symbiosis not only as a model to characterize the mechanisms by which animals establish, develop and maintain more or less stable associations with bacteria, but also as a model of medical interest since exist benign and pathogenic Vibrio species, which can be compared.

• 2001/2002 - Dr. Geoffrey I. McFadden: Evolution of Plastids, Discovery of Nucleomorphs.

• 2003/2004 – Dr. Reinhold G. Herrmann: Molecular Analyses of Plastids and their integration in the plant cell.

• 2005/2006 – Dr. B. Franz Lang: Phylogenetic Analyses of Protists.

• 2007/2008 – Dr. Johannes Hackstein: Revealing the Biology of Hydrogenosomes.

• 2009/2010 – Dr. Thomas Börner: Discovery and characterization of organellar phage-type RNA polymerases.

• 20011/2012 – Dr. Rudolf Hagemann: Innovative work on plastid mutations that contributed significantly to elucidate mechanisms of extranuclear inheritance.

• 2013/2014 – Dr. Wolfgang Löffelhardt: His work on the nature and biology of muroplasts (cyanelles) – relicts of plastid evolution – that increased the understanding of the origin of chloroplasts and strongly influenced the research on Cyanophora paradoxa.

  • 2015/2016 – Dr. Uwe Maier: His work combines very successfully cell biology with cellular evolution. His admirable and highly successful work on different aspects of cellular functionality sparked new insights 

  • 2018/2019 – Dr. John Archibald: His work reveals the astonishing biology of microbial organisms and the role of endosymbiotic processes that allowed eukaryotic cells to shape life on this planet. Besides his very impressive research, the Miescher-Ishida-Prize recognizes the immense efforts Prof. Archibald took to disseminate his ideas and the science of endosymbiosis to a broader audience as a researcher, book author and speaker.into the processes that formed the cells as we know them today.

• • 2021/2022 – Dr. Debashish Bhattacharya: He advanced our understanding of the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes, by developing "compare and contrast" approaches in genomics and transcriptomics. At a time when molecular phylogenies were mostly limited to single genes or concatenations of a few genes, Debashish Bhattacharya pioneered the field of phylogenomics.

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Committee for the Recommendation of the Miescher-Ishida-Prize (CRIMP)

Candidates for nomination can be suggested by competend scientist in the field and every ISE-member to the Comittee by submitting a short description of the candidate´s scientific work (one page max) and a list of up to five of the candidate`s most important publications by email to the managing board ( see below).

Managing Board: The Members of the Recommendation Committee for the Miescher-Ishida Prize and as representative of the Faculty of Biology at the Tübingen University