Johannes Beckers

PI of the research group “Epigenetics and gene regulation”; Deputy Director of the Institute of Experimental Genetics

+49 89 3187 3513 beckers@helmholtz-munich.de

Building / Room: 35.14 / 315

“Many of our traits are not determined by the DNA sequence of our genome. We aspire to understand, how external and environmental factors impact on our genes and our health through epigenetic mechanisms.”

Visit the Research Website: "Gene Regulation and Epigenetics"

Understanding the conditions and mechanisms that allow us to reverse the epigenetic inheritance of acquired diabetes and obesity from one generation to the next is at the core of the research that is done in Johannes Beckers’ group. To address this question, he uses the mouse as model system for metabolic diseases in man. Studying of intergenerational inheritance, so far, requires organismal work that cannot be replaced by in vitro or in silico models. His finding that obesity and diabetes due to over-feeding impacts on the metabolic health of the progeny, has opened the very recent field of epigenetic intergenerational epigenetics. Johannes’ research is driven by the aim to understand how this inheritance contributes to the world-wide pandemic of diabetes and obesity and how it can be reversed by applying specific treatments.

Mammalian Genetics and Epigenetics Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Embryogenesis and Developmental Biology Animal Models and Animal Welfare in Research

Johannes joined Helmholtz Munich as group leader in 2000 and a few years later he also became Professor at the Technical University Munich. He teaches genetics and developmental biology of animals. Before he came to Helmholtz Munich, he was postdoc at the Jackson Laboratory where he worked on the Delta1 gene and its function during embryonic development in the group of Prof. Achim Gossler. He received his PhD in biology from the University of Geneva where he studied gene regulation in the HOXD complex in the institute of Prof. Denis Duboule. Before that he studied biology at the Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg and received his diploma for his work on the regulation of the human C-reactive protein in transgenic mice in the group of Prof. Ulrich Rüther at the EMBL Heidelberg.

Recently he also got a degree as Executive MBA in communication and leadership by the Technical University Munich. Communicating to the public about the conditions under which animal experiments are performed in research is of great concern for him. Knowledge we have from animals still changes our conception of the world and saves the lives of millions of people every year.

DFG postdoctoral fellowship and DFG research funding as PI
Fellowships of the German Human Genome Project
EU funding such as Horizon 2020
Paula und Richard von Hertwig Preis (twice)

Bhattacharya, D. ; da Silva Buttkus, P. ; Nalbach, K. ; Cheng, L. ; Garrett, L. ; Irmler, M. ; Kislinger, G. ; Werner, G. ; Rodde, R. ; Lengger, C. ; Beckers, J. ; Zimprich, A. ; Hölter, S.M. ; Gailus-Durner, V. ; Fuchs, H. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Wefers, B. ; Wurst, W. ; Brill, M.S. ; Schifferer, M. ; Lichtenthaler, S.F. ; Behrends, C.

Neuropathy-associated Tecpr2 mutation knock-in mice reveal endolysosomal loss of function phenotypes in neurons and microglia.

Beckers, J. ; Valera, G. ; Raess, M.

INFRAFRONTIER – the European Research Infrastructure for In Vivo and In Vitro Diseases Modelling.

Gillet, J.P. ; Gerard, L. ; Vieira, W. ; Fourrez, M. ; Gaudray, F. ; Rathkolb, B. ; Rozman, J. ; Klein-Rodewald, T. ; Becker, L. ; Aguilar-Pimentel, J.A. ; Horsch, M. ; Spielmann, N. ; Prehn, C. ; Bihin, B. ; Beckers, J. ; Fuchs, H. ; Gailus-Durner, V. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Southon, E. ; Tessarollo, L. ; Xia, D. ; Gottesman, M.M.

Abcb5-deficient mice show a subtle, pleiotropic phenotype indicating a role for this transporter in intermediary metabolism.

Skerrett-Byrne, D.A. ; Pepin, A.-S. ; Laurent, K. ; Beckers, J. ; Schneider, R. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Teperino, R.

Dad's diet shapes the future: How paternal nutrition impacts placental development and childhood metabolic health.

Dreher, S.I. ; Goj, T. ; von Toerne, C. ; Hoene, M. ; Irmler, M. ; Ouni, M. ; Jähnert, M. ; Beckers, J. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Peter, A. ; Moller, A. ; Birkenfeld, A.L. ; Schürmann, A. ; Hauck, S.M. ; Weigert, C.

Sex differences in resting skeletal muscle and the acute and long-term response to endurance exercise in individuals with overweight and obesity.

Stoleriu, M.-G. ; Ansari, M. ; Strunz, M. ; Schamberger, A.C. ; Heydarian, M. ; Gabriel, C. ; Najak, A. ; Disovic, A. ; Schneider, J. ; Gerckens, M. ; Burgstaller, G. ; Ding, Y. ; Doryab, A. ; Voss, C. ; Ketscher, C. ; Sienel, W. ; Kauke, T. ; Fertmann, J. ; Schneider, C. ; Behr, J. ; Irmler, M. ; Beckers, J. ; Eickelberg, O. ; Schubert, B. ; Hauck, S.M. ; Hatz, R. ; Schmid, O. ; Stöger, T. ; Schiller, H. ; Hilgendorff, A.

Development of advanced in-vitro human bronchial epithelial models and lung cell atlas in COPD enabled by thoracic surgery translational research.

Stoleriu, M.-G. ; Ansari, M. ; Strunz, M. ; Schamberger, A.C. ; Heydarian, M. ; Ding, Y. ; Voss, C. ; Schneider, J.J. ; Gerckens, M. ; Burgstaller, G. ; Castelblanco, A. ; Kauke, T. ; Fertmann, J. ; Schneider, C. ; Behr, J. ; Lindner, M. ; Stacher-Priehse, E. ; Irmler, M. ; Beckers, J. ; Eickelberg, O. ; Schubert, B. ; Hauck, S.M. ; Schmid, O. ; Hatz, R.A. ; Stöger, T. ; Schiller, H. ; Hilgendorff, A.

COPD basal cells are primed towards secretory to multiciliated cell imbalance driving increased resilience to environmental stressors.

Upadhyay, S. ; Rahman, M. ; Rinaldi, S. ; Koelmel, J.P. ; Lin, E.Z. ; Mahesh, P.A. ; Beckers, J. ; Johanson, G. ; Pollitt, K.J.G. ; Palmberg, L. ; Irmler, M. ; Ganguly, K.

Assessment of wood smoke induced pulmonary toxicity in normal- and chronic bronchitis-like bronchial and alveolar lung mucosa models at air-liquid interface.

Mayr, C. ; Sengupta, A. ; Asgharpour, S. ; Ansari, M. ; Pestoni, J. ; Ogar, P. ; Angelidis, I. ; Liontos, A. ; Rodriguez-Castillo, J.A. ; Lang, N.J. ; Strunz, M. ; Porras-Gonzalez, D.L. ; Gerckens, M. ; De Sadeleer, L.J. ; Oehrle, B. ; Viteri-Alvarez, V. ; Fernandez, I.E. ; Tallquist, M. ; Irmler, M. ; Beckers, J. ; Eickelberg, O. ; Stoleriu, M.G. ; Behr, J. ; Kneidinger, N. ; Wuyts, W.A. ; Wasnick, R. ; Yildirim, A.Ö. ; Ahlbrecht, K. ; Morty, R.E. ; Samakovlis, C. ; Theis, F.J. ; Burgstaller, G. ; Schiller, H.

Sfrp1 inhibits lung fibroblast invasion during transition to injury induced myofibroblasts.

Sabikunnahar, B. ; Caldwell, S. ; Varnum, S. ; Hogan, T. ; Lahue, K.G. ; Rathkolb, B. ; Gerlini, R. ; Dragano, N.R.V. ; Aguilar-Pimentel, J.A. ; Irmler, M. ; Sanz-Moreno, A. ; da Silva Buttkus, P. ; Beckers, J. ; Wolf, E. ; Gailus-Durner, V. ; Fuchs, H. ; Hrabě de Angelis, M. ; Ather, J.L. ; Poynter, M.E. ; Krementsov, D.N. ; German Mouse Clinic Consortium (Hölter, S.M. ; Wurst, W.)

LncRNA U90926 is dispensable for the development of obesity-associated phenotypes in vivo.