Colin Blakemore
Encyclopedia
Professor Colin Blakemore, Ph.D.
, FRS, FMedSci, HonFSB
, HonFRCP
, is a British
neurobiologist who is Professor of Neuroscience
at the University of Oxford
and University of Warwick
specialising in vision
and the development of the brain. He was formerly Chief Executive of the British Medical Research Council
(MRC). He is best known to the public as a communicator of science but also as the target of a long-running animal-rights
campaign. According to The Observer
, he has been both "one of the most powerful scientists in the [UK]" and "a hate figure for the animal rights movement".
in 1944, he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry
and then won a state scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
, England, where he gained a first-class degree
in medical sciences, then completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Physiological Optics at the University of California, Berkeley
, in the United States, as a Harkness Fellow in 1968. From 1968 to 79 he was a Demonstrator and then Lecturer in Physiology at the University of Cambridge
, and was also Director of Medical Studies at Downing College. From 1976 to 1979 he held the Royal Society Locke Research Fellowship.
He was appointed Waynflete Professor of Physiology
at the University of Oxford in 1979 at the age of 35 and a Fellow of Magdalen College
. He was also Director of the James S. McDonnell
and Medical Research Council
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience
at the University of Oxford
for eight years. He has served as President of the Biosciences Federation, now the Society of Biology, the British Neuroscience Association and the Physiological Society
, and as President and Chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
, now the British Science Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences
and Academia Europaea
, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
, the Institute of Biology
, the British Pharmacological Society
, the Society of Biology
and Corpus Christi College
and Downing College
of the University of Cambridge
. He is Chairman of the Food Standards Agency
General Advisory Committee on Science and the Health Protection Agency
Electromagnetic Fields Discussion Group.
Blakemore is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association
. He is also an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Association
. In July 2001 he was one of the signatories to a letter published in The Independent which urged the Government to reconsider its support for the expansion of maintained religious schools, and he was one of the 43 scientists and philosophers who signed and sent a letter to Tony Blair and relevant Government departments, concerning the teaching of Creationism in schools in March 2002. He was also one of the signatories to a letter supporting a holiday on Charles’ Darwin’s birthday, published in The Times on 12 February 2003, and sent to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary.
Blakemore has been honoured for his scientific achievements with prizes from many academies and societies, including the Royal Society
, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, the French Académie Nationale de Médecine
, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
, the Royal College of Physicians
and the European Association for Bioindustries. In 1993 he received the Ellison-Cliffe Medal from the Royal Society of Medicine
and in 1996 he won the Alcon International Prize for research relevant to clinical ophthalmology. He has eight Honorary Degrees from British and overseas universities and is a foreign member of several academies of science, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
, the National Academy of Sciences of India
, the Indian Academy of Neurosciences, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering
. He won the 2010 Royal Society Ferrier Award and Lecture.
Despite a serious illness in his teens, Blakemore developed a lifelong interest in fitness and sport, especially long-distance running. He has completed 18 marathons and won the veteran's section for the British team at the Athens Centenary Marathon in 1996.
and, more recently, conditions such as stroke and Huntington's disease
. He has published hundreds of scientific papers and a number of books on these subjects.
His major contribution to neuroscience is the part he played in establishing the concept of neuronal plasticity
, the capacity of the brain to reorganise itself as a result of the pattern of activity passing through its connections. Blakemore was one of the first, in the late 1960s, to demonstrate that the visual part of the cerebral cortex
undergoes active, adaptive change during a specific period shortly after birth, and he argued that this helps the brain to match itself to the sensory environment. He went on to show that such plasticity results from changes in the shape and structure of nerve cells and the distribution of nerve fibres, and also from the selective death
of nerve cells.
Although initially controversial, the idea that the mammalian brain is 'plastic' and adaptive is now a dominant theme in neuroscience. The plasticity of connections between nerve cells
is thought to underlie many different types of learning
and memory
, as well as sensory development. The changes in organisation can be remarkably rapid, even in adults. Blakemore has shown that the visual parts of the human cortex are 'taken over' by the other senses, especially touch, in people who have been blind since shortly after birth. After stroke or other forms of brain injury, reorganisation of this sort can help the process of recovery, as other parts of the brain take over the function of the damaged part.
Blakemore's recent work has emphasized the variety of molecular mechanisms that contribute to plasticity and has identified some of the genes involved in enabling nerve cells to modify their connections in response to the flow of nerve impulses through them. He summarised research on brain plasticity in his 2005 Harveian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians
.
In 1976 he was the youngest ever person to give the BBC Reith Lectures
for which he presented a series of six talks entitled Mechanics of the Mind.
He has subsequently presented or contributed to hundreds of radio and television broadcasts. He gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
in 1982-3, and he has written and presented many other programmes about science, including a 13-part series, The Mind Machine on BBC television, a radio series about artificial intelligence
, Machines with Minds, and a documentary for Channel 4 television, God and the Scientists. He writes for British and overseas newspapers, especially The Guardian, The Observer, the Daily Telegraph and The Times. He has also written or edited several popular science
books, including Mechanics of the Mind, The Mind Machine. Gender and Society, Mindwaves, Images and Understanding and The Oxford Companion to the Body. Since 2004 he has been President of the Association of British Science Writers.
In 1989, when Blakemore was awarded the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Prize
for his work in public communication, the citation described him as "one of Britain's most influential communicators of science”. Blakemore has won many other awards for his work in public communication and education, including the Phi Beta Kappa Award for contribution to the literature of science
, the John P McGovern Science and Society Medal from Sigma Xi, the Edinburgh Medal from the City of Edinburgh and the Science Educator Award from the Society for Neuroscience
.
Blakemore has worked for many medical charities and not-for-profit organizations, including SANE
, the International Brain Injury Association, Headway, Sense (The National Deafblind & Rubella Association), the Louise T Blouin Foundation, Sense about Science and the Pilgrim Trust. He is President of the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Vice President of the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association.
He helped the Dana Foundation
of New York to establish the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, an alliance of leading European neuroscientists who are committed to raising awareness of the importance of brain research. A large donation from the Dana Foundation to the Science Museum completed the funding for the Dana Centre on Queen's Gate in London, which has become a focus for public engagement with science.
He has been a Fellow of the World Economic Forum, and he is Honorary President of the World Cultural Council, a member of the World Federation of Scientists and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association
. He is one of the patrons of the Oxford University Scientific Society
and an Honorary Member of the Cambridge Union Society. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering
.
Blakemore has served in an advisory role for several UK government departments and also for agencies, foundations and government departments overseas. He was a member of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (the Stewart Committee) in 1999-2000 and he chairs the General Advisory Committee on Science at the Food Standards Agency. He has a long-standing interest in policy on drugs of abuse, and is a Commissioner of the UK Drug Policy Commission and an adviser to the Beckley Foundation.
in medical research, though he has publicly denounced fox hunting
and animal testing for cosmetics
.
He came to the attention of the animal rights movement while at Oxford University in the 1980s, when he carried out research into amblyopia
and strabismus
, conducting experiments that involved sewing kittens' eyelids shut from birth in order to study the development of their visual cortex
. Blakemore has said of the research that it was directly applicable to humans, and that "[t]hanks to it, and similar research, we now know why conditions like amblyopia — the most common form of child blindness — occur and are now able to tackle it and think of ways of preventing it."
Subsequently, according to The Observer, he and his family "endured assaults by masked terrorists, bombs sent to his children, letters laced with razor blades, a suicide bid by his wife, and more than a decade of attacks and abuse."
In 1992, together with Les Ward of the anti-vivisection group Advocates for Animals
, he co-founded a bipartisan think tank
called the Boyd Group
, to consider issues relating to animal experimentation.
In 1998, during the 68-day hunger strike of British animal-rights activist Barry Horne
, Blakemore's life was threatened in a statement released by Robin Webb
of the Animal Liberation Press Office
on behalf of the Animal Rights Militia
. Direct action
against him has abated since the prosecution of Cynthia O'Neill for harassing him in 2000.
Blakemore has advocated frank and full public debate about animal research and has worked to persuade other researchers to be more open. He has been chair of the Coalition for Medical Progress, the Research Defence Society and Understanding Animal Research, an organisation devoted to making the case for responsible use of animals in research, which was launched in 2008.
as the head of the Medical Research Council, a national organisation that supports medical science with an annual budget of more than £700 million. The reputation of the Medical Research Council had been damaged by what was perceived as financial mismanagement, the introduction of unpopular funding schemes and a lack of transparency in its dealings with researchers. Blakemore launched a national roadshow to consult the scientific community and quickly changed the mechanisms for handling funds, rationalised the grant schemes, introduced new forms of support for young researchers and overhauled the communications policies of the MRC.
He maintained his research activity in Oxford during his period of office and said "I want to be seen as the scientist, not the bureaucrat at the top. No, I want to be seen as the scientist in the middle."
Blakemore initiated a comprehensive review of the MRC's strategy and argued for a stronger commitment to clinical research and to the translation of basic research into benefits for patients. These actions anticipated Sir David Cooksey
's 2006 "Review of UK health research funding", which resulted in closer working between the MRC and the Departments of Health, but which recommended that "funding levels for basic science should be sustained". In the Comprehensive Spending Review at the end of Blakemore's term of office, the budget of the MRC was increased by more than one third over three years.
On the completion of his appointment at the MRC in 2007, Blakemore returned to a Professorship of Neuroscience at Oxford. He also holds a Professorship at the University of Warwick
and is Chairman of the Neuroscience Research Partnership in Singapore. He was succeeded at the MRC by Leszek Borysiewicz
.
published a leaked British Cabinet Office
document that suggested he was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the 2004 New Year's Honours List
because of his research on animals - research considered "controversial" by a British government committee that oversees matters of science and technology despite being widely supported by political leaders and the public. In response, he threatened to resign, suggesting in interviews that his position as chief executive was now untenable:
A parliamentary inquiry investigating the matter implicated the Science and Technology Committee chaired by Sir Richard Mottram
. After expressions of support for animal experimentation from then Prime Minister Tony Blair
; Chief Scientific Adviser David King
; Minister for Science Lord Sainsbury
; and the wider scientific community, Blakemore withdrew his threat to resign.
As of 2010, he is the only MRC chief executive unrecognised by the British honours system
.
, its largest research facility, from its current location in Mill Hill
to a new site in central London. As part of the consultation process a taskforce was convened, with Blakemore as chairman, to consider options for the size and location of the new NIMR. During the process a number of senior staff at NIMR, including the then Director, Sir John Skehel
, opposed a move being proposed as the only option believing "staying at Mill Hill should be considered."
Robin Lovell-Badge, a scientist at NIMR who was a member of the taskforce, proposed this option be included in the official publication of the taskforce, something that Blakemore and the majority of other members were opposed to. After disagreeing on the issue, Lovell-Badge alleged that Blakemore had twice attempted to "coerce
" him into agreement by threatening his job. Blakemore denied the allegations, describing them as "pure invention".
A House of Commons
select committee investigated the claims. They found "no specific credible evidence" to support the complaint, reporting the allegation "would have carried more weight had it been made at the time rather than in public during the final stages of the decision making process when relations between NIMR and MRC management had fallen into mutual animosity."
The committee did criticise Blakemore for "heavy handed" lobbying of other taskforce members and reported that a "more independent" figure than Blakemore should have chaired the taskforce. However, the report also criticised unnamed senior NIMR staff for an attempt at "undermining Blakemore's position."
The MRC has maintained its commitment to relocate NIMR and has launched a project, together with the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and University College London, to construct the Francis Crick Institute on a site adjacent to the British Library and St Pancras Station in London.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, FRS, FMedSci, HonFSB
Society of Biology
The Society of Biology is a charitable organization in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology. Formed in 2010 by the merger of the Biosciences Federation and the Institute of Biology, the Society has some 10,000 individual members and through its corporate specialist member...
, HonFRCP
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
neurobiologist who is Professor of Neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
specialising in vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and the development of the brain. He was formerly Chief Executive of the British Medical Research Council
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
(MRC). He is best known to the public as a communicator of science but also as the target of a long-running animal-rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
campaign. According to The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, he has been both "one of the most powerful scientists in the [UK]" and "a hate figure for the animal rights movement".
Background
Born in Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
in 1944, he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
and then won a state scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, England, where he gained a first-class degree
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
in medical sciences, then completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Physiological Optics at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, in the United States, as a Harkness Fellow in 1968. From 1968 to 79 he was a Demonstrator and then Lecturer in Physiology at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, and was also Director of Medical Studies at Downing College. From 1976 to 1979 he held the Royal Society Locke Research Fellowship.
He was appointed Waynflete Professor of Physiology
Waynflete Professorships
The Waynflete Professorships are four professorial fellowships at the University of Oxford endowed by Magdalen College and named in honour of the college founder William of Waynflete, who had a great interest in science...
at the University of Oxford in 1979 at the age of 35 and a Fellow of Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. He was also Director of the James S. McDonnell
James Smith McDonnell
James Smith "Mac" McDonnell was an American aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, later McDonnell Douglas.-Early life:...
and Medical Research Council
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
for eight years. He has served as President of the Biosciences Federation, now the Society of Biology, the British Neuroscience Association and the Physiological Society
The Physiological Society
-History:The Physiological Society was founded in 1876 as a dining society "for mutual benefit and protection" by a group of 19 physiologists, led by John Burdon Sanderson and Michael Foster, as a result of the 1875 Royal Commission on Vivisection and the subsequent 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act. The...
, and as President and Chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
, now the British Science Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences
Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is the United Kingdom's national academy of medical sciences. It was established in 1998 on the recommendation of a group that was chaired by Michael Atiyah. Its president is John Irving Bell....
and Academia Europaea
Academia Europaea
Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....
, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, the Institute of Biology
Institute of Biology
The Institute of Biology was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societies...
, the British Pharmacological Society
British Pharmacological Society
The British Pharmacological Society is the professional association for pharmacologists in the UK.The society was formed when a group of pharmacologists met in Oxford, UK in 1931. The learned society aims to further education within Pharmacology and also organizes meetings of the world's most...
, the Society of Biology
Society of Biology
The Society of Biology is a charitable organization in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology. Formed in 2010 by the merger of the Biosciences Federation and the Institute of Biology, the Society has some 10,000 individual members and through its corporate specialist member...
and Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
and Downing College
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He is Chairman of the Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
General Advisory Committee on Science and the Health Protection Agency
Health Protection Agency
The Health Protection Agency, or, in Welsh, Yr Asiantaeth Diogelu Iechyd is a statutory corporation. It is an independent UK organisation that was set up by the government in 2003 to protect the public from threats to their health from infectious diseases and environmental hazards...
Electromagnetic Fields Discussion Group.
Blakemore is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
. He is also an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Association
Rationalist Association
The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1899 by a group of free thinkers who were unhappy with the increasing political and decreasingly intellectual tenor of the British secularist movement...
. In July 2001 he was one of the signatories to a letter published in The Independent which urged the Government to reconsider its support for the expansion of maintained religious schools, and he was one of the 43 scientists and philosophers who signed and sent a letter to Tony Blair and relevant Government departments, concerning the teaching of Creationism in schools in March 2002. He was also one of the signatories to a letter supporting a holiday on Charles’ Darwin’s birthday, published in The Times on 12 February 2003, and sent to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary.
Blakemore has been honoured for his scientific achievements with prizes from many academies and societies, including the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, the French Académie Nationale de Médecine
Académie Nationale de Médecine
Académie Nationale de Médecine, or National Academy of Medicine was created in 1820 by king Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the institution was known as the Académie Royale de Médecine...
, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists is responsible for training, examining and representing ophthalmologists in Australia and New Zealand...
, the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
and the European Association for Bioindustries. In 1993 he received the Ellison-Cliffe Medal from the Royal Society of Medicine
Royal Society of Medicine
The Royal Society of Medicine is a British charitable organisation whose main purpose is as a provider of medical education, running over 350 meetings and conferences each year.- History and overview :...
and in 1996 he won the Alcon International Prize for research relevant to clinical ophthalmology. He has eight Honorary Degrees from British and overseas universities and is a foreign member of several academies of science, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences is an organisation dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands...
, the National Academy of Sciences of India
National Academy of Sciences, India
The National Academy of Sciences, India is the oldest Science Academy in India. It is located in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh...
, the Indian Academy of Neurosciences, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China...
. He won the 2010 Royal Society Ferrier Award and Lecture.
Despite a serious illness in his teens, Blakemore developed a lifelong interest in fitness and sport, especially long-distance running. He has completed 18 marathons and won the veteran's section for the British team at the Athens Centenary Marathon in 1996.
Research
Colin Blakemore's research has focused on vision, the early development of the brainBrain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
and, more recently, conditions such as stroke and Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...
. He has published hundreds of scientific papers and a number of books on these subjects.
His major contribution to neuroscience is the part he played in establishing the concept of neuronal plasticity
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is a non-specific neuroscience term referring to the ability of the brain and nervous system in all species to change structurally and functionally as a result of input from the environment. Plasticity occurs on a variety of levels, ranging from cellular changes involved in...
, the capacity of the brain to reorganise itself as a result of the pattern of activity passing through its connections. Blakemore was one of the first, in the late 1960s, to demonstrate that the visual part of the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
undergoes active, adaptive change during a specific period shortly after birth, and he argued that this helps the brain to match itself to the sensory environment. He went on to show that such plasticity results from changes in the shape and structure of nerve cells and the distribution of nerve fibres, and also from the selective death
Apoptosis
Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation...
of nerve cells.
Although initially controversial, the idea that the mammalian brain is 'plastic' and adaptive is now a dominant theme in neuroscience. The plasticity of connections between nerve cells
Synapse
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell...
is thought to underlie many different types of learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
and memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
, as well as sensory development. The changes in organisation can be remarkably rapid, even in adults. Blakemore has shown that the visual parts of the human cortex are 'taken over' by the other senses, especially touch, in people who have been blind since shortly after birth. After stroke or other forms of brain injury, reorganisation of this sort can help the process of recovery, as other parts of the brain take over the function of the damaged part.
Blakemore's recent work has emphasized the variety of molecular mechanisms that contribute to plasticity and has identified some of the genes involved in enabling nerve cells to modify their connections in response to the flow of nerve impulses through them. He summarised research on brain plasticity in his 2005 Harveian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
.
Public engagement and public service
In parallel with his academic career, Colin Blakemore has championed the communication of science and engagement with the public on controversial and challenging aspects of science.In 1976 he was the youngest ever person to give the BBC Reith Lectures
for which he presented a series of six talks entitled Mechanics of the Mind.
He has subsequently presented or contributed to hundreds of radio and television broadcasts. He gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner....
in 1982-3, and he has written and presented many other programmes about science, including a 13-part series, The Mind Machine on BBC television, a radio series about artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, Machines with Minds, and a documentary for Channel 4 television, God and the Scientists. He writes for British and overseas newspapers, especially The Guardian, The Observer, the Daily Telegraph and The Times. He has also written or edited several popular science
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
books, including Mechanics of the Mind, The Mind Machine. Gender and Society, Mindwaves, Images and Understanding and The Oxford Companion to the Body. Since 2004 he has been President of the Association of British Science Writers.
In 1989, when Blakemore was awarded the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Prize
Michael Faraday Prize
The Michael Faraday Prize is awarded by the Royal Society of London for "excellence in communicating science to UK audiences". Named after Michael Faraday, the medal itself is made of silver gilt, and is accompanied by a purse of £2500...
for his work in public communication, the citation described him as "one of Britain's most influential communicators of science”. Blakemore has won many other awards for his work in public communication and education, including the Phi Beta Kappa Award for contribution to the literature of science
Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science
The Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science is given annually by the Phi Beta Kappa Society to authors of significant books in the fields of science and mathematics. The award was first given in 1959 to anthropologist Loren Eiseley.-Award winners:-References:...
, the John P McGovern Science and Society Medal from Sigma Xi, the Edinburgh Medal from the City of Edinburgh and the Science Educator Award from the Society for Neuroscience
Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system.-History:...
.
Blakemore has worked for many medical charities and not-for-profit organizations, including SANE
SANE (charity)
SANE is a mental illness charity in the UK. It provides telephone and email support services and has established a research centre. The opinion of SANE's founder and chief executive, Marjorie Wallace, is often quoted in media reports on mental health issues....
, the International Brain Injury Association, Headway, Sense (The National Deafblind & Rubella Association), the Louise T Blouin Foundation, Sense about Science and the Pilgrim Trust. He is President of the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Vice President of the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association.
He helped the Dana Foundation
Dana Foundation
The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization based in New York dedicated to the support of grants and outreach in science, health, and education, particularly in the neurosciences...
of New York to establish the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, an alliance of leading European neuroscientists who are committed to raising awareness of the importance of brain research. A large donation from the Dana Foundation to the Science Museum completed the funding for the Dana Centre on Queen's Gate in London, which has become a focus for public engagement with science.
He has been a Fellow of the World Economic Forum, and he is Honorary President of the World Cultural Council, a member of the World Federation of Scientists and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
. He is one of the patrons of the Oxford University Scientific Society
Oxford University Scientific Society
The Oxford University Scientific Society is a student scientific society at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1882 as the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club. It is one of the oldest undergraduate science societies in the world. It organizes talks on scientific subjects on a weekly...
and an Honorary Member of the Cambridge Union Society. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering
Campaign for Science and Engineering
The Campaign for Science and Engineering is a non-profit organization which promotes science and engineering in the UK. It focuses on arguing for more research funding, promoting a high-tech and knowledge-based economy, highlighting the need for top-quality science and maths education at all...
.
Blakemore has served in an advisory role for several UK government departments and also for agencies, foundations and government departments overseas. He was a member of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (the Stewart Committee) in 1999-2000 and he chairs the General Advisory Committee on Science at the Food Standards Agency. He has a long-standing interest in policy on drugs of abuse, and is a Commissioner of the UK Drug Policy Commission and an adviser to the Beckley Foundation.
Animal testing and animal rights
Blakemore is outspoken in his support of the use of animal testingAnimal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
in medical research, though he has publicly denounced fox hunting
Fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
and animal testing for cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
.
He came to the attention of the animal rights movement while at Oxford University in the 1980s, when he carried out research into amblyopia
Amblyopia
Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, is a disorder of the visual system that is characterized by a vision deficiency in an eye that is otherwise physically normal, or out of proportion to associated structural abnormalities of the eye...
and strabismus
Strabismus
Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely...
, conducting experiments that involved sewing kittens' eyelids shut from birth in order to study the development of their visual cortex
Visual cortex
The visual cortex of the brain is the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe, in the back of the brain....
. Blakemore has said of the research that it was directly applicable to humans, and that "[t]hanks to it, and similar research, we now know why conditions like amblyopia — the most common form of child blindness — occur and are now able to tackle it and think of ways of preventing it."
Subsequently, according to The Observer, he and his family "endured assaults by masked terrorists, bombs sent to his children, letters laced with razor blades, a suicide bid by his wife, and more than a decade of attacks and abuse."
In 1992, together with Les Ward of the anti-vivisection group Advocates for Animals
Advocates for Animals
OneKind is a campaigning animal welfare charity based in Edinburgh and operating worldwide. The organisation works through high-profile public campaigns, political lobbying, investigations, formal research and public education....
, he co-founded a bipartisan think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
called the Boyd Group
Boyd Group
The Boyd Group is a British based, independent think tank considering issues relating to animal testing.- Background :The group was founded in 1992, the idea forming from a dialogue between Colin Blakemore, a strong advocate of animal testing and subsequently chief executive of the Medical Research...
, to consider issues relating to animal experimentation.
In 1998, during the 68-day hunger strike of British animal-rights activist Barry Horne
Barry Horne
Barry Horne was an English animal rights activist. He became known around the world in December 1998, when he engaged in a 68-day hunger strike in an effort to persuade the British government to hold a public inquiry into animal testing, something the Labour Party had said it would do before it...
, Blakemore's life was threatened in a statement released by Robin Webb
Robin Webb
Robin Webb is an English animal rights activist. He is a former member of the ruling council of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , and former director of Animal Aid...
of the Animal Liberation Press Office
Animal Liberation Press Office
Animal Liberation Press Offices relay anonymous communiques, photos and videos to the media about direct action undertaken by the Animal Liberation Front , Animal Rights Militia , Animal Liberation Brigade, Justice Department, and other leaderless resistance within the animal liberation movement...
on behalf of the Animal Rights Militia
Animal Rights Militia
The Animal Rights Militia is a banner used by animal rights activists who engage in direct action that ignores the Animal Liberation Front's policy of taking all necessary precautions to avoid harm to human and non-human life.-History:...
. Direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
against him has abated since the prosecution of Cynthia O'Neill for harassing him in 2000.
Blakemore has advocated frank and full public debate about animal research and has worked to persuade other researchers to be more open. He has been chair of the Coalition for Medical Progress, the Research Defence Society and Understanding Animal Research, an organisation devoted to making the case for responsible use of animals in research, which was launched in 2008.
Medical Research Council
In 2003, Blakemore succeeded Professor Sir George RaddaGeorge Radda
Professor Sir George Charles Radda was born in 1936 in Hungary. In 1956, he attended Merton College, Oxford to study chemistry. His early work was concerned with the development and use of fluorescent probes for the study of structure and function of membranes and enzymes...
as the head of the Medical Research Council, a national organisation that supports medical science with an annual budget of more than £700 million. The reputation of the Medical Research Council had been damaged by what was perceived as financial mismanagement, the introduction of unpopular funding schemes and a lack of transparency in its dealings with researchers. Blakemore launched a national roadshow to consult the scientific community and quickly changed the mechanisms for handling funds, rationalised the grant schemes, introduced new forms of support for young researchers and overhauled the communications policies of the MRC.
He maintained his research activity in Oxford during his period of office and said "I want to be seen as the scientist, not the bureaucrat at the top. No, I want to be seen as the scientist in the middle."
Blakemore initiated a comprehensive review of the MRC's strategy and argued for a stronger commitment to clinical research and to the translation of basic research into benefits for patients. These actions anticipated Sir David Cooksey
David Cooksey
Sir David James Scott Cooksey, GBE is a British businessman, venture capitalist and politician.David Cooksey gained a degree in metallurgy at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford...
's 2006 "Review of UK health research funding", which resulted in closer working between the MRC and the Departments of Health, but which recommended that "funding levels for basic science should be sustained". In the Comprehensive Spending Review at the end of Blakemore's term of office, the budget of the MRC was increased by more than one third over three years.
On the completion of his appointment at the MRC in 2007, Blakemore returned to a Professorship of Neuroscience at Oxford. He also holds a Professorship at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
and is Chairman of the Neuroscience Research Partnership in Singapore. He was succeeded at the MRC by Leszek Borysiewicz
Leszek Borysiewicz
Sir Leszek Krzysztof Borysiewicz, FRS is a Polish British physician, immunologist and scientific administrator. He is currently the 345th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, his term of office started on 1 October 2010...
.
Honours controversy
Soon after his appointment to the MRC The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
published a leaked British Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
document that suggested he was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the 2004 New Year's Honours List
British honours system
The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
because of his research on animals - research considered "controversial" by a British government committee that oversees matters of science and technology despite being widely supported by political leaders and the public. In response, he threatened to resign, suggesting in interviews that his position as chief executive was now untenable:
It's a matter of principle. The mission statement of the MRC is explicit. There's a specific commitment to talk to the public about issues in medical research. How can I now go to our scientists, and ask them to risk talking about animal research, when there now appears to be evidence that in secret the government disapproves it, even though in public they've strongly encouraged it?
A parliamentary inquiry investigating the matter implicated the Science and Technology Committee chaired by Sir Richard Mottram
Richard Mottram
Sir Richard Clive Mottram, GCB is chairman or board member of a number of private and public sector organisations, many with international links. He is chairman of the board of Amey PLC and of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory , and a Board member of the International Advisory Board of...
. After expressions of support for animal experimentation from then Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
; Chief Scientific Adviser David King
David King (scientist)
Sir David Anthony King FRS is the Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, Director of Research in Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Collegio Carlo Alberto, Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and a senior...
; Minister for Science Lord Sainsbury
David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville
David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, FRS , is a British businessman and politician. From 1992 to 1997, he served as the Chairman of Sainsbury's . He was made a life peer in 1997, and currently sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Labour Party...
; and the wider scientific community, Blakemore withdrew his threat to resign.
As of 2010, he is the only MRC chief executive unrecognised by the British honours system
British honours system
The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
.
National Institute for Medical Research taskforce
In 2003 the MRC announced plans to consider moving the National Institute for Medical ResearchNational Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a medical research facility situated in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of London, England. It is mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, or MRC, and is its largest establishment and the only one designated as an...
, its largest research facility, from its current location in Mill Hill
Mill Hill
Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburb situated 9 miles north west of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until it was absorbed by London...
to a new site in central London. As part of the consultation process a taskforce was convened, with Blakemore as chairman, to consider options for the size and location of the new NIMR. During the process a number of senior staff at NIMR, including the then Director, Sir John Skehel
John Skehel
Sir John James Skehel, FRS is a British virologist. He was born in Blackburn to Joseph and Annie Skehel in 1941, and was educated at St. Mary's College, Blackburn before being accepted to the University of Aberystwyth for a BSc in agricultural biochemistry.Soon after graduating he married Anita...
, opposed a move being proposed as the only option believing "staying at Mill Hill should be considered."
Robin Lovell-Badge, a scientist at NIMR who was a member of the taskforce, proposed this option be included in the official publication of the taskforce, something that Blakemore and the majority of other members were opposed to. After disagreeing on the issue, Lovell-Badge alleged that Blakemore had twice attempted to "coerce
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
" him into agreement by threatening his job. Blakemore denied the allegations, describing them as "pure invention".
A House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
select committee investigated the claims. They found "no specific credible evidence" to support the complaint, reporting the allegation "would have carried more weight had it been made at the time rather than in public during the final stages of the decision making process when relations between NIMR and MRC management had fallen into mutual animosity."
The committee did criticise Blakemore for "heavy handed" lobbying of other taskforce members and reported that a "more independent" figure than Blakemore should have chaired the taskforce. However, the report also criticised unnamed senior NIMR staff for an attempt at "undermining Blakemore's position."
The MRC has maintained its commitment to relocate NIMR and has launched a project, together with the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and University College London, to construct the Francis Crick Institute on a site adjacent to the British Library and St Pancras Station in London.
Further reading
- The Next Big Thing - 11 freeview video science discussion programmes chaired by Colin Blakemore produced by the BBC and the Vega Science Trust.
- McKie, Robin. "Snubbed honours scientist 'to quit'". The Observer, 21 December 2003.
- Select Committee on Public Administration, Minutes of Evidence. Examination of Witness (Questions 608-639). 29 April 2004.
- The 1976 BBC Reith Lectures by Colin Blakemore: Mechanics of the Mind