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Dr. Amir Sagi

Amir Sagi

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Research Interests

  • 1. The androgenic gland in crustaceans, specific gene expression in the androgenic gland and their functional genomics. The insulin-like androgenic hormone and its signaling cascade.
    2. Proteins and their encoding genes in relation to biomineralization (calcium mobilization) during the molt cycle in crustaceans and their use for human consumption.
    3. Biotechnology for mass production of all male prawn populations in China, India, Vietnam and Thailand- novel insulin like hormones and molecular sex markers.

    4. Next generation deep sequencing for multi-gene expression patterns in crustacean molt and reproduction.

    5. Functional genomics through loss of function (RNAi) in crustacean molt and reproduction.

    6. The use of non-breeding crustacean population as bio-control agents.

    7. Sequencing the entire genome of the prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii.

     

    The main target organisms are the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, the Red-Claw Australian crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus, the White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei and various ornamental shrimp.


 

Incumbent of the Lily and Sidney Oelbaum Chair in Applied Biochemistry, Prof. Amir Sagi is a former Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and a member of the Department of Life Sciences and of the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN) at Ben-Gurion University. Sagi is the past President of the International Society for Invertebrate Reproduction and Development (ISIRD). His group conducts basic and applied research on genes and gene products related to processes of sexual differentiation and skeletal bio-mineralization in crustaceans (particularly, prawns, crayfish and shrimps). The applied research has led to the elaboration of a novel biotechnology for the production of all-male populations of the giant freshwater prawn through temporal RNA interference. The process was patented and licensed to the Israeli Tiran Group which started sales in Vietnam and China. Sagi is also the co-founder of two start-ups based on his research, Amorphical Ltd and Enzootic Ltd. With the latter he has recently developed the first crustacean all-female culture technology. 

Sagi is the recipient of the 2013 Global Aquaculture Alliance’s inaugural Novus Global Aquaculture Innovation Award, the 2014 Landau Prize for Sciences and Art, the 2016 Crustacean Society Excellence in Research Award (TCSERA) and the 2018 ICA award for leading entrepreneurship in agriculture and biotechnology, with Enzootic and Northern Prawns. He has over 150 scientific publications to his credit, five patents and numerous invited presentations in conferences and institutions around the world.