# First person – Hanna Berger and Sarah Gerstner

## TL;DR

This paper explores how a gene called FBRSL1 affects heart development in frogs and can cause heart defects in humans.

## Contribution

The study identifies FBRSL1 as a critical gene for heart development and links its mutations to human heart defects.

## Key findings

- Fbrsl1 is essential for heart development in Xenopus laevis.
- De novo variants in FBRSL1 can cause human heart defects.

## Abstract

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Hanna Berger and Sarah Gerstner are co-first authors on ‘
Fbrsl1 is required for heart development in Xenopus laevis and de novo variants in FBRSL1 can cause human heart defects’, published in DMM. Hanna is a postdoctoral researcher and Sarah is a PhD student in the lab of Prof. Dr Annette Borchers at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany, investigating early embryonic development with a focus on congenital malformations.