# Alexander Raikhel

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{{Infobox person
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| name               = Alexander Raikhel
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| education          = {{plainlist|M.S in [zoology](/source/zoology), [Leningrad University](/source/Leningrad_University) (1970)
*Ph.D in biological sciences, Zoological Institute of the [Russian Academy of Sciences](/source/Russian_Academy_of_Sciences) (1975)<ref name="UCR">{{Cite web|url=http://genomics.ucr.edu/people/person-details.php?id=209 |title=Alexander Raikhel |website=[University of California, Riverside](/source/University_of_California%2C_Riverside) |accessdate=2015-03-03|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20150311215921/http://genomics.ucr.edu/people/person-details.php?id=209|archivedate=March 11, 2015}}</ref>
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| organization       = [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20017220.html|title=Alexander S. Raikhel|website=[National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences)|accessdate=2015-03-11}}</ref>
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| title              = {{plainlist|Distinguished professor of entomology
*Editor of ''[Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology](/source/Insect_Biochemistry_and_Molecular_Biology)''<ref name="UCR"/>}}
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| spouse             = [Natasha Raikhel](/source/Natasha_Raikhel)<ref name="NCBI"/><ref name="honor"/>
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| awards             = {{plainlist|[Entomological Society of America](/source/Entomological_Society_of_America)'s Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology (2001)<ref name="NCBI"/>
*[National Institutes of Health](/source/National_Institutes_of_Health) MERIT Award (2002)
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'''Alexander S. Raikhel''' is a distinguished professor of [entomology](/source/entomology) at the [University of California, Riverside](/source/University_of_California%2C_Riverside), and an elected member of the United States [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences).

==Early life and education==
Raikhel grew up in [Siberia](/source/Siberia) in the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union). Raikhel was the son of two medical professionals, and was inspired by the books he read to become a scientist. He was fixated on the stereotypical image of intellectuals wearing glasses, and at one point deliberately failed a vision test so that he could wear glasses. Raikhel applied to [Leningrad State University](/source/Leningrad_State_University) in 1965, but was delayed by the quota system due to his [Jew](/source/Jew)ish heritage.<ref name="NCBI">{{Cite journal|journal=[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences](/source/Proceedings_of_the_National_Academy_of_Sciences)|date=December 28, 2010|volume=107|issue=52|doi=10.1073/pnas.1018340108| pmc=3012477 |title=Profile of Alexander S. Raikhel|first=Tinsley H.|last=Davis|pages=22381–22383|pmid=21173217|bibcode=2010PNAS..10722381D|doi-access=free}}</ref> As a result, he cleaned pens at [Leningrad Zoo](/source/Leningrad_Zoo) and took night courses to further his education, eventually earning his master's degree in 1970. Again delayed by the quota system for Jews, Raikhel worked for [Yu. S. Balashov](/source/Yu._S._Balashov) at the Zoological Institute of the [Russian Academy of Sciences](/source/Russian_Academy_of_Sciences) during his studies;{{clarify|If he was delayed, what was he studying?|date=March 2015}} Raikhel defended his thesis about blood-feeding organisms in 1975.<ref name="NCBI"/>

==Career==
Raikhel's travels to study [tick](/source/tick)s in warmer climates influenced him and his wife, fellow Soviet scientist [Natasha Raikhel](/source/Natasha_Raikhel), to look for a livelihood outside the USSR. With the help of visiting [University of Georgia](/source/University_of_Georgia) professor [Jerry Paulin](/source/Jerry_Paulin), the couple emigrated to the United States in 1979 as political refugees.<ref name="NCBI"/><ref name="honor"/> Under [Arden O. Lea](/source/Arden_O._Lea) at the University of Georgia, Raikhel switched from studying ticks to mosquitoes, which led him to study [vector biology](/source/Vector_(molecular_biology)). Raikhel's work focused on identifying the chemical precursors to reproduction ([vitellogenesis](/source/vitellogenesis)) in ''[Drosophila](/source/Drosophila)'', ''[Aedes aegypti](/source/Aedes_aegypti)'', and ''[Culex quinquefasciatus](/source/Culex_quinquefasciatus)''. His lab discovered that the female mosquito, after having a blood meal, begins producing eggs.<ref name="NCBI"/><ref name="honor"/><ref name="ESA">{{Cite web|title=Alexander S. Raikhel, ESA Fellow (2009)|date=August 2009|url=http://www.entsoc.org/fellows/alexander-s-raikhel-esa-fellow-2009|website=[Entomological Society of America](/source/Entomological_Society_of_America)}}</ref> Raikhel began work at [Michigan State University](/source/Michigan_State_University) in 1986 as an associate professor of entomology where he received the university's Distinguished Faculty Award.<ref name="NCBI"/> While there, his work focused on the possibility of breeding mosquitoes to internally eliminate diseases they typically pass on to the animals they feed on.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Making a New Mosquito Will tinkering make mosquitoes better or worse?|author1-first=Eric|author1-last=Weeks|author2-first=Michael|author2-last=D'Antonio|date=May 2001|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2001/may/featmosquito|journal=[Discover](/source/Discover_(magazine))}}</ref> In January 2002, Raikhel moved from Michigan to the [University of California, Riverside](/source/University_of_California%2C_Riverside), in Southern California.<ref name="honor"/> That year, Raikhel was named a fellow of the [American Association for the Advancement of Science](/source/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science) and also awarded a MERIT award, a ten-year {{US$|10000000|2002}} grant to continue his mosquito research by the [National Institutes of Health](/source/National_Institutes_of_Health).<ref name="UCR"/><ref name="honor"/> In 2009 Raikhel was elected to the [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences) in recognition of his "groundbreaking contributions to understanding mosquito physiology".<ref name="honor">{{cite web|title=UC Riverside Professor Receives Top Scientific Honor|first=Iqbal|last=Pittalwala|date=April 28, 2009|url=http://newsroom.ucr.edu/2080}}</ref> The same year he was named a fellow of the [Entomological Society of America](/source/Entomological_Society_of_America). Raikhel founded and currently leads UCR's Center for Disease Vector Research.<ref name="ESA"/> Raikhel's recent research is on identifying how to manipulate the juvenile hormones of female mosquitos to impair their ability to reproduce healthy offspring, thus reducing vectors for [yellow fever](/source/yellow_fever), [dengue fever](/source/dengue_fever), and [chikungunya](/source/chikungunya).<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 15, 2012|title=Mosquito population bit by birth control|newspaper=UCR Highlander|url=http://www.highlandernews.org/3444/mosquito-population-bit-by-birth-control/|first=Kevin|last=Keckeisen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Researchers Discover Natural Insect Growth Regulators in Plants|date=January 28, 2015|journal=[Entomology Today](/source/Entomology_Today)|url=http://entomologytoday.org/2015/01/28/researchers-discover-natural-insect-growth-regulators-in-plants/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Discovery by UC Riverside Entomologists Could Shrink Dengue-spreading Mosquito Population|date=December 2, 2010|url=http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2010120212000047.html|website=sciencenewsline.com|access-date=March 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125849/http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2010120212000047.html|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://ucanr.edu/Find_People/Academic_Directory/?facultyid=1855 profile at UCR]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Raikhel, Alexander}}
Category:21st-century Russian biologists
Category:Living people
Category:Saint Petersburg State University alumni
Category:University of California, Riverside faculty
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Raikhel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Raikhel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Raikhel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.