Ralph Riley
Encyclopedia
Sir Ralph Riley FRS
(23 October 1924 – 27 August 1999) was a British geneticist.
He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
in 1924 and served in the army during WWII. After the war he studied Botany at Sheffield University, followed by a two year PhD study in genetics.
He was then recruited by the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) at Cambridge to study the introduction of useful variation into the wheat crop from its wild relatives. Two years later in 1954 Riley became the founder and first Head of the Cytogenetics Department at the PBI. His target was to increase the wheat gene pool by making the variation in wild relatives available to wheat breeders. In 1957, he discovered the method of doing so by finding the Ph gene. This gene controlled the pairing between the chromosomes of wheat and wild relatives of wheat and soon he was able to demonstrate the cytogenetic ways by which useful genes, such as those that confer novel disease resistances, could be transferred into wheat from a host of wild species. This discovery of the Ph gene allowed the first "genetic engineering" and his methods have since been used around the world in all major cereal breeding programmes.
In 1972, he became Director of the PBI and during his six years as Director strove to improve production in UK arable agriculture, developing fundamental research programmes on breeding and introducing plant molecular biology in the UK. He thus ensured that the PBI's pre-eminence in the application of science to plant breeding. During his directorship wheat yields increased from four tonnes per hectare to 6 t/ha, due in large part to the improved PBI varieties. This was particularly vital at a time when the UK needed to be less reliant on North American imports.
In 1978 Ralph Riley left the PBI to become Secretary (chief executive) of the Agriculture and Food Research Council (now the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), where he served as Secretary for seven years and Deputy-Chairman for a further two.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1967. He was awarded the Royal Medal
in 1981. and the Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture in 1986. He was knighted for his services to science in 1984.
He married Joan Norrington in 1949; they had two daughters. He died in Cambridge on 27 August 1999.
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"...
(23 October 1924 – 27 August 1999) was a British geneticist.
He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
in 1924 and served in the army during WWII. After the war he studied Botany at Sheffield University, followed by a two year PhD study in genetics.
He was then recruited by the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) at Cambridge to study the introduction of useful variation into the wheat crop from its wild relatives. Two years later in 1954 Riley became the founder and first Head of the Cytogenetics Department at the PBI. His target was to increase the wheat gene pool by making the variation in wild relatives available to wheat breeders. In 1957, he discovered the method of doing so by finding the Ph gene. This gene controlled the pairing between the chromosomes of wheat and wild relatives of wheat and soon he was able to demonstrate the cytogenetic ways by which useful genes, such as those that confer novel disease resistances, could be transferred into wheat from a host of wild species. This discovery of the Ph gene allowed the first "genetic engineering" and his methods have since been used around the world in all major cereal breeding programmes.
In 1972, he became Director of the PBI and during his six years as Director strove to improve production in UK arable agriculture, developing fundamental research programmes on breeding and introducing plant molecular biology in the UK. He thus ensured that the PBI's pre-eminence in the application of science to plant breeding. During his directorship wheat yields increased from four tonnes per hectare to 6 t/ha, due in large part to the improved PBI varieties. This was particularly vital at a time when the UK needed to be less reliant on North American imports.
In 1978 Ralph Riley left the PBI to become Secretary (chief executive) of the Agriculture and Food Research Council (now the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), where he served as Secretary for seven years and Deputy-Chairman for a further two.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1967. He was awarded the Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
in 1981. and the Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture in 1986. He was knighted for his services to science in 1984.
He married Joan Norrington in 1949; they had two daughters. He died in Cambridge on 27 August 1999.