John E. Sulston
Encyclopedia
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"...
(born 27 March 1942) 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...
biologist. He is a joint winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
.
He is currently Chair of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation
Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation
The Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation is a research institute founded at the University of Manchester in 2007 with a mission to examine the role and moral responsibilities of science, technology and innovation in the contemporary world...
(iSEI) at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
.
Biography
Sulston was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, NorthwoodMerchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
graduating in 1963. He joined the Chemistry Department in Cambridge, gained his PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree for research in nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
chemistry and devoted his scientific life to biological research, especially in the field of molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
. After working as a Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral research is scholarly research conducted by a person who has recently completed doctoral studies, normally within the previous five years. It is intended to further deepen expertise in a specialist subject, including acquiring novel skills and methods...
at the Salk Institute, USA for a while, he returned to Cambridge to work under Sydney Brenner
Sydney Brenner
Sydney Brenner, CH FRS is a South African biologist and a 2002 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate, shared with H...
at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
Sulston played a central role in both the Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...
worm and human genome
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is an international scientific research project with a primary goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA, and of identifying and mapping the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional...
sequencing projects. He had argued successfully for the sequencing of C. elegans to show that large-scale genome sequencing projects were feasible. As sequencing of the worm genome proceeded, the project to sequence the human genome
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is an international scientific research project with a primary goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA, and of identifying and mapping the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional...
began. At this point he was made director of the newly established Sanger Centre (named after Fred Sanger and now the Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. With an endowment of around £13.9 billion, it is the United Kingdom's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research...
Sanger Institute
Sanger Institute
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is a non-profit, British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust....
), located in Cambridgeshire, England.
Following completion of the 'working draft' of the human genome sequence in 2000, Sulston retired from his role as director at the Sanger Centre. In 2002 he won the Dan David Prize
Dan David Prize
The Dan David Prize annually awards 3 prizes of $1 million each awarded by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the fields of science, technology, culture or social welfare. There are three prize categories - past, present and...
, directed by Professor Gad Barzilai
Gad Barzilai
Gad Barzilai is a scholar of political science and law, famous for his work on the politics of law, human rights and communities. He is a professor of law, societies and justice, and international studies at University of Washington...
, and the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award
Robert Burns Humanitarian Award
The Robert Burns Humanitarian Award is presented annually to a group or individual who has saved, improved or enriched the lives of others or society as a whole, through personal self-sacrifice, selfless service, 'hands on' charitable/volunteer work, or other acts.The winner receives a 1759 guinea,...
. Later, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
with Sydney Brenner
Sydney Brenner
Sydney Brenner, CH FRS is a South African biologist and a 2002 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate, shared with H...
and H. Robert Horvitz
H. Robert Horvitz
Howard Robert Horvitz is an American biologist best known for his research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.-Life:Horvitz did his undergraduate studies at MIT in 1968, where he joined Alpha Epsilon Pi...
, both of whom he had collaborated with at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), for their discoveries concerning 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'. One of Sulston's most important contributions during his research years at the LMB was to elucidate the precise order in which cells in C. elegans divide
Cell division
Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells . Cell division is usually a small segment of a larger cell cycle. This type of cell division in eukaryotes is known as mitosis, and leaves the daughter cell capable of dividing again. The corresponding sort...
. In fact, he and his team succeeded in tracing the nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
's entire embryonic cell lineage. Sulston is now a leading campaigner against the patenting of human genetic information.
He 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...
http://www.humanism.org.uk/about/people/distinguished-supporters.
He also provided bail sureties for Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
, according to Mark Stephens, Julian's solicitor. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12015140.
Biographies and profiles
- John Sulston biography from the Wellcome Trust
- John Sulston: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002
- Portraits of John Sulston from the National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom)
- John Sulston profile from Channel4
- John Sulston profile from BBC4
- Freeview Video of Fredrick Sanger in conversation with John Sulston by the Vega Science Trust
- John Sulston profile from the Medical Research Council lab for Molecular Biology
- John Sulston FRS interview from the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe 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"...
- Sir John Sulston FRS - Worm genomics
- John Sulston interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 16th September 2008 (film)
- Dan David Prize laureate 2002
Publications
- John Sulston scientific publications from PubMedPubMedPubMed is a free database accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez information retrieval system...
News and Press about John Sulston
- Sir John Sulston awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize (press release from the Sanger Centre)
- The public servant: John Sulston
- British Scientists share 2002 Nobel Prize
- John Sulston: One man and his worm from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...