Guenther Gerisch and Dictyostelium, the microbial model for ameboid motility and multicellular morphogenesis.

Beginning in 1960 and continuing to this day, Guenther Gerisch's work on the social ameba Dictyostelium discoideum has helped to make it the model organism of choice for studies of cellular activities that depend upon the actomyosin cytoskeleton. Gerisch has brought insight and quantitative rigor to cell biology by developing novel assays and by applying advanced genetic, biochemical and microscopic techniques to topics as varied as cell-cell adhesion, chemotaxis, motility, endocytosis and cytokinesis.