Günther Schütz was born on 1 May 1940, in Bad Schwalbach in the German state of Hessia. He studied medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/Germany, conducted clinical studies in Giessen, Germany, and Bern, Switzerland, and concluded his studies in medicine at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany.
In 1975, Günther moved back to Germany heading an Independent Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, where he explored basic molecular mechanism of gene regulation in eukaryotes. He remained at the MPI until June 1980, when he became Department Head at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and Professor at the Faculty of Biology at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg.
Having laid the groundwork of isolation and characterization of hormone-regulated genes in Berlin, at the DKFZ, Günther further refined new molecular biology techniques and explored how genes were regulated by glucocorticoid hormones and cAMP in vitro and in vivo. In conducting high level research, Günther and his team applied top-notch molecular biology technologies. Among others, he and his team dissected hormonal receptors and numerous regulatory genes by gene knock-outs, targeted and conditional gene disruption and studied hormonal signaling in embryogenesis and development. In later years, Günther studied addiction and brain function, including brain tumor initiation.
In 1988, Günther was awarded the renowned Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Society (DFG). In 2008, he was appointed Helmholtz Professor and continued his scientific research at the DKFZ until December 2015. Throughout his research years, Günther became known as an esteemed mentor of his students, many of whom earned professorship positions at prominent universities worldwide. Shortly after his 80th birthday, on 28 May 2020, Günther died (Zum Tod von Günther Schütz). His legacy lives on.
In his honor and memory, Günther´s family, students and co-workers held the Günther Schütz Symposium in May 2022 and established the Günther Schütz Prize in 2023.
