Johann Peter Gogarten is a German-American biologist studying the early evolution of life.
Born in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, he studied plant physiology and membrane transport with Friedrich-Wilhelm Bentrup in Tübingen and Giessen.
He currently is Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.
[1] He was also one of the pioneers to recognize the importance and the extent of horizontal gene transfer and its role in microbial evolution.
J. Peter Gogarten was selected as a recipient of a 2009 Fulbright scholarship, a member of the CT Academy of Science and Engineering, and fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life.