Judith Lengyel, 59; UCLA Biologist Studied Genetic Processes

Judith Lengyel, 59, a UCLA molecular biologist who studied genetic control of cell shape and movement, died Sept. 25 in Pacific Palisades of a brain tumor.

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Lengyel grew up in Los Angeles and earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from UCLA and a doctorate in molecular biology from UC Berkeley. She conducted postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on genetic development in fruit flies.

Lengyel joined the UCLA faculty in 1976 and taught and conducted research there until her death. Working with student Kathryn Anderson, Lengyel concentrated on the development of organs in fruit fly embryos.

The biologist’s research was particularly credited with showing that repression of gene activity is as important to organ development as the activation of gene activity.