Biography

Biography

stories Unsung heroes in science: Margaret Hamilton Margaret Hamilton was a computer scientist who spearheaded software engineering whilst working at NASA during the Apollo missions.
stories Giants in genomics: Jennifer Doudna Jennifer Anne Doudna is a biochemist who won the Nobel Prize for her work in developing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology.
stories Unsung heroes in science: Henrietta Lacks While not a scientist, the first successful line of human cells grown in a lab came from a cancer sample from Henrietta, and have become instrumental in biological research.
stories Unsung heroes in science: Barbara McClintock Barbara McClintock was a pioneering geneticist who discovered that genes can ‘jump’. This discovery led to her receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983.
stories Unsung heroes of science: Marie Maynard Daly Marie Maynard Daly, the first Black woman in the US to receive a PhD in chemistry, worked on nucleic acids, cholesterol links to heart disease and protein synthesis.
stories Giants in genomics: Robert Waterston Robert H. Waterston is an American biologist well known for his work on sequencing the genome of the nematode worm C. elegans alongside John Sulston. He is also recognised for his part in sequencing the human, mouse and chimpanzee genomes.
stories Giants in genomics: Allan Bradley Allan Bradley was director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute from 2000 to 2010. His appointment as director coincided with the completion of the draft human genome sequence by the Human Genome Project.
stories Giants in genomics: Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer whose fundamental research was critical to Watson and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA.
stories Giants in genomics: Maurice Wilkins Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and James Watson in 1962 for their joint discovery of the structure of DNA. Naturally reticent, Wilkins didn’t initially stand forward to give his own account of the DNA story so few knew of his direct involvement in the project.
stories Giants in genomics: James Watson James Watson and his British colleague Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA. For this fundamental finding James, Francis and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962.
stories Giants in genomics: Fred Sanger The Sanger Institute takes its name from the double Nobel Prize winner and ‘father of genomics’, Frederick Sanger.
stories Giants in genomics: Francis Crick Francis Crick and his American colleague, James Watson, discovered the double helix structure of DNA. For this fundamental finding Francis, James and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962.
stories Giants in genomics: Francis Collins Dr Francis Collins led the Human Genome Project from 1993. In his work, he was responsible for discovering the genes mutated in cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease. He is currently director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
stories Giants in genomics: John Sulston Professor Sir John Sulston was the founding director of the Sanger Centre (now the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) from 1992 until 2000 when the ‘working draft’ of the human genome sequence was completed.
stories Giants in genomics: Janet Thornton Professor Dame Janet Thornton was director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), which shares the Wellcome Genome Campus with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, from 2001 to 2015.
stories Giants in genomics: Eric Lander Eric Lander is the founding director of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard. He was one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project and his work has been key in developing tools to investigate disease.
stories Giants in genomics: Mike Stratton Professor Sir Mike Stratton is the director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and co-leader of the Cancer Genome Project.

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