Marc Servetnick, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

Professor Emeritus

Marc Servetnick, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

Professor Emeritus

Dr. Marc Servetnick earned a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985. He conducted research as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and at the University of Virginia. He taught at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, NY, where he also served as chair of Biology, before coming to UW Bothell. At UW Bothell he served as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences and as interim dean of the School of STEM. Servetnick’s research focused on embryonic development and evolution, specifically how genes that are important in development have taken on new roles over evolutionary time, and how these changes have contributed to the emergence of different animals. He retired in 2024.

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley
    • Ph.D. – Zoology
  • Johns Hopkins University
    • B.A. – Biophysics

Courses

  • B BIO 200 Introductory Biology 2
  • B BIO 360 Introduction to Genetics
  • B BIO 460 Developmental Biology

Teaching Interests

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell and Molecular Biology

Research and Scholarship Interests

Development and Evolution

① used to denote student authors

  • Servetnick MD, Steinworth B, Babonis LS, Simmons D, Salinas-Saavedra M and Martindale MQ (2017). Cas9-mediated excision of Nematostella brachyury disrupts endoderm development, pharynx formation and oral-aboral patterning. Development 144, 2951- 2960. doi: 10.1242/dev.145839
  • Cass A, Servetnick M and McCune A. (2013). Expression of a lung developmental cassette in the adult and developing zebrafish swimbladder. Evolution and Development, 15, 119-132.
  • Popielski Pope①, A, Liu, C, Sater, AK and Servetnick M. (2010). FGFR3 Expression in Xenopus laevis. Gene Expression Patterns, 10, 87-92.
  • Zhang L, El-Hodiri HM, Ma HF, Zhang X, Servetnick M, Wensel TG, and Jamrich M (2003). Targeted expression of the dominant negative FGFR4a in the eye using Xrx1A regulatory sequences interferes with normal retinal development. Development 130, 417786.
  • Golub R①, Clementi J①, Adelman Z①, Weiss R①, Bonasera J, and Servetnick M (2000). Evolutionarily conserved and divergent expression of members of the FGF receptor family among vertebrate embryos, as revealed by FGFR expression patterns in Xenopus. Development Genes and Evolution 210, 345357.
  • Servetnick MD, Cook TL Jr, and Grainger RM (1996). Lens Induction in axolotls: Comparison with inductive signaling mechanisms in Xenopus laevis. Intl. J. Develop. Biol. 40, 755761.
  • Grainger RM, Henry JJ, Saha MS, and Servetnick M. (1992). Recent progress on the mechanisms of embryonic lens formation (Review). Eye 6, 117122.
  • Saha MS, Servetnick M and Grainger RM (1992). Vertebrate eye development. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development 2, 582588.
  • Servetnick M and Grainger RM (1991a). Changes in neural and lens competence in Xenopus ectoderm: Evidence for an autonomous developmental timer. Development 112, 177188.
  • Servetnick M and Grainger RM (1991b). Homeogenetic neural induction in Xenopus. Developmental Biology 147, 7382.
  • 2017 – University of Washington Royalty Research Fund. ($33,240, 1 year). Title: Do brachyury and FoxA drive expression of similar genes during development of the cnidarian pharynx and the notochord?
  • 2002 – National Science Foundation: Research at Undergraduate Institutions ($299,362, 3 yrs). Title: Use of transgenic Xenopus embryos to study cell specification in the developing eye.
  • 1995 – National Science Foundation: Research at Undergraduate Institutions ($222,325, 3 yrs). Title: Expression and Regulation of a Novel Xenopus FGF Receptor mRNA.