Mgr. Zuzana Musilová, Ph.D.

How do fish respond to their environment? That is the main subject of Zuzana Musilová's research, which does not stop at studying mechanisms but deals with the evolutionary processes that lead to various adaptations. She revealed that fish vision can be modulated by changes in DNA, including gene duplication. Her research is attracting international attention and she publishes in leading journals such as Science and PNAS, while in Czechia she has founded her own research group devoted to the evolution of the fish senses.

Zuzana Musilová combines deep scientific commitment with experience from numerous expeditions and research placements all over the world. That allows her to study the life of fish and the development of our world from innovative, interdisciplinary angles.

How would I explain what I do, as clearly as possible, in seven short sentences?

With my colleagues and students we study the evolution of fish, and especially the adaptations of their vision to different environments. We use modern methods of molecular genetics, sequencing fish genomes and the sets of RNA (transcriptomes) in the eye. From the number and sequence of certain genes we are able to infer, in short, which colours a fish is able to see, for instance. In some environments, such as the deep oceans, conditions are so extreme that besides the bizarre shapes of the fish and their telescopic or mirrored eyes we uncover incredible things at the molecular level too. Such as fish probably able to distinguish many shades of blue-green in astonishing detail, thanks to a unique retinal anatomy and the use of rods (instead of cones) — which, incidentally, is unique among vertebrates. To give you an idea: we humans have three different cone proteins (red, green and blue) to see our range of colours. The record-holder in the deep sea has 38, so it is hard to imagine how it sees its world.

What do I enjoy at least as much as my work?

I am lucky that my hobby (keeping aquariums) has become something like my job, so sometimes it is hard to separate the two. I feel wonderful under water, and I love being in a tropical lake or river with nothing but a mask and snorkel, watching fish undisturbed in their own world for a while.

What is the greatest obstacle I have overcome in my life?

In my professional life I have fortunately not met any outright obstacles. What was certainly decisive for me was going abroad for a postdoctoral placement. That kind of experience is absolutely essential to a scientist's development. Otherwise the last obstacle (though not really overcome) was probably last year's despair over the cancelled expedition for deep-sea fish. A week before departure I stood with my rucksack packed, deciding whether to run for the last train to Dresden, because the borders were closing that evening. Then I spent a while considering crossing the Šumava illegally. In any case it was a truly awful feeling and I hope I never live through it again.

Three days later our German collaborators cancelled the expedition altogether, with no replacement date. We believe our turn will come again in three years, which is the usual cycle of the research vessel, but it makes you realise that life is not endless.

Talent, temperament, hard work, luck, something else — what decides success?

All of it together, and none of it can be missing in science. And of course motivation and curiosity on top of that; they are the most important engine of discovery.

What do I consider the greatest success I have achieved?

Getting a fish onto the cover of Science! That is a slight exaggeration, of course, because the picture itself is not my doing. But I was delighted that we managed to publish a partly zoological story about the evolution of fish vision in the depths of the sea in such a journal. And personally I value the course of the research even more than the journal's name — my colleagues and I gathered data and analyses from different fields, often far outside my own expertise, and the story then crystallised for us, like assembling a jigsaw.

What would I change in the world if I had the power?

On a global scale, definitely access to education for all the children in the world. Only through education can you go on to understand how things connect and decide about your own life. And sometimes change the world. On a domestic scale, probably that Václav Havel had not died so soon.

What is the greatest challenge facing my field and science in general?

In evolutionary research it is certainly the further connecting of different fields — when we study a particular adaptation in animals, for instance, we often connect field observation with the morphology and the genetic basis of that adaptation. At present there is an effort to add the most modern molecular approaches, at the level of the function of individual cell types for example, which then lets us understand better the mechanism by which these adaptations work. Otherwise I think science in general will soon be troubled by predatory journals and by the rising fees of the standard ones.

Zuzana Musilová in the media (in Czech):

• Český rozhlas Plus In a warmer ocean, predators may be hungrier. Research into the behaviour of their prey off the American coast has shown it
• Blanenský Deník Fascinating and mysterious. When hunting rare fish you draw the short straw, a scientist says
• Glanc Zuzana Musilová: Mysterious eyes in the depths
• Plus Rozhlas The successful scientist Zuzana Musilová: students tell me it is encouraging for them to see a woman in science
• Neuron Awards 2021: debate with the laureates https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DTsEpAa6vY