The Dictionary of Gene Technology

Günter Kahl is Professor for Plant Molecular Biology at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. After gaining his Ph.D. in plant biochemistry, he spent two postdoctoral years at Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA, joining Professor Joe Varner and Professor James Bonner at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. His main research interests focus on
- Gene technology, in particular the genetic and physical mapping as well as the isolation and characterization of plant defence genes and their promoters, and the use of in vitro modified defence genes for the improvement of plant crops via gene transfer.
- Plant genome analysis, in particular the development of molecular marker technologies and informative DNA markers for genomic fingerprinting, the establishment of genetic maps, the use of BAC libraries and physical mapping, and the map-based cloning of agronomically important genes.
- Expression profiling of plant tissues with expression microarrays and high-throughput techniques such as SAGE.
Due to the international nature of this work, Professor Kahl cooperates with a series of research institutions throughout Europe, in Japan, the USA, Syria, India, and South America. In addition, he is currently organizing a series of molecular marker courses in Austria, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He has also served in expert missions for IAEA, FAO and UNESCO in these and many other countries.
Professor Kahl is the author of more than 250 scientific publications, and is currently CSO at GenXPro, a company specializing in novel technologies in genomics and transcriptomics, located at the Frankfurt Innovation Center for Biotechnology (FIZ), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.