Christiane Nusslein-Volhard

“In mathematics and science, there is no difference in the intelligence of men and women. The difference in genes between men and women is simply the Y chromosome, which has nothing to do with intelligence.”

“I immediately loved working with flies. They fascinated me and followed me around in my dreams.”

“I had a happy childhood, with many stimulations and support from my parents who, in postwar times, when it was difficult to buy things, made children's books and toys for us. We had much freedom and were encouraged by our parents to do interesting things.”

“I was born during the war, on October 20, 1942, as the second of five children. My father, Rolf Volhard, was an architect.”

“At the time I finished high school, I was determined to study biology, deeply convinced to eventually be a researcher.”

“I remember that already as a child I was often intensely interested in things, obsessed by ideas and projects in many areas, and in these topics I learned much on my own, reading books.”

“People think if you have deciphered the genome of humans that you can change everything. But you cannot change everything, because you do not know what the genes mean, and you have no methods for changing them, and you can't do experiments with humans like you can with animals.”

“Humans are something very different from animals, and the numbers required to get cloning to work in animals are completely prohibitory with humans.”

“In German science, we have a special problem. We lose talented women at the time they get pregnant. Some of it occurs because they are encouraged - by their husbands, bosses and the government - to take long maternity leaves.”

“I think there are profound differences between women and men. In intelligence and creativity, there is no difference, but in what one loves, what one likes, the passions - there are differences.”

“I am often asked why there is discrimination against women in science. And I have given it some thought. With prejudicial attitudes, you can't really do much. You can point out when people discriminate and ask them not to.”