Sabrina was born and educated in Germany and joined Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski's group as the first PhD student. She rigorously researched the molecular mechanisms underlying the “mother of all cells”, the zygote. In her award winning paper she revealed new insights into mechanisms underlying natural reprogramming to totipotency. The key discovery is that the mother's egg proteins not only initiate but closely monitor the reprogramming of the father's sperm DNA, generating the genetic blueprint of the single-cell embryo or zygote that eventually will form a whole organism.

“Sabrina's work has provided fascinating new insights into zygotic reprogramming. The findings also have important implications for human in vitro fertilization. It will be exciting to explore whether cell culture conditions could enhance the zygote’s intrinsic repair and surveillance mechanisms, potentially leading to better quality embryos and more successful pregnancies,” emphasizes Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski.
 

The ÖAW Best Paper is awarded for outstanding publications, monograph or original article, published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed magazine in 2016. The award is remunerated with prize money worth 3.700, - Euros.