Stephen L. Johnson, Ph.D.

Research

Stephen Johnson was a 1997 biomedical scholar and professor in the Department of Genetics at Washington University until his death in 2017. As a scholar, his lab was interested in growth control and morphogenesis in zebrafish development. Johnson and his colleagues studied the pigment pattern and the control of size and regeneration of the fin. Their basic approach was to identify mutations that affect adult pigment stripe pattern or fin growth and regeneration and analyze the mutations in singly or multiply mutant fish to identify the tissues and genetic pathways affected. They also tried to identify the genes affected by the mutations, and were working to develop genetic and physical maps that could lead to isolation of these genes. Their main research interests were 1) melanocyte stem cells and 2) proportionate growth and fin development.