Edward Kravitz (original) (raw)

Edward Arthur Kravitz (born December 19, 1932) is the George Packer Berry Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. He is widely recognized for demonstrating that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) functions as a neurotransmitter. In addition, he and Antony Stretton were the first to use the intracellular dye procion yellow to visualize neuronal architecture. Later, Kravitz's work with neuroamines demonstrated that serotonin and octopamine act as synaptic modulators. Kravitz continued to explore the function of amines using Homarus americanus, the American lobster, as a model organism to study aggression. He currently works on aggressive behavior using the genetically manipulable model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly.