Sir alec jeffreys biography of william

Alec Jeffreys is the th most popular biologist up from th inthe 3,th most popular biography from United Kingdom up from 4,rd in and the th most popular British Biologist. Among biologists, Alec Jeffreys ranks out of 1, Among people born inAlec Jeffreys ranks TV shows like Jeremy Kyle have brought the pioneering work to the masses for entertainment, and thanks to detective shows like CSIwe all feel like we have a bit of the DNA expert in us.

Sir alec jeffreys biography of william: Sir Alec John Jeffreys,

Such is its ubiquity that we tend not to appreciate quite how recent the discovery was and just how groundbreaking the discipline is. Sir Alec Jeffreys is the academic who pioneered DNA testing, but his path to genetic fingerprinting discovery was not, initially, straightforward. His distinguished scientific career began when he won a scholarship to read biochemistry at Merton College, Oxford, inbut on completion of his degree he realised that biochemistry was not the research subject he wished to pursue.

The genetic element of his degree was what excited and inspired Sir Alec most, and this was the primary focus of his PhD. On completion of his studies he left Oxford to become a research fellow at the University of Amsterdam where he worked on mammalian genes with Dr, now Professor, Richard Flavell. InSir Alec moved again, this time to the University of Leicester, where he had been offered a temporary lectureship.

Sir alec jeffreys biography of william: Alec Jeffreys. Sir Alec

He remained there for the rest of his illustrious year career, rising to the post of Professor. British geneticist born OxfordOxfordshireEngland. University of Amsterdam University of Leicester. Alec Jeffreys' voice. Early life and education [ edit ]. Career and research [ edit ]. Genetic fingerprinting [ edit ]. DNA profiling [ edit ]. Awards and honours [ edit ].

Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics. Personal life [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Biochemical Society Transactions. PMID Archived from the original PDF on 9 August Retrieved 29 May Louis-Jeantet Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 November Retrieved 22 December Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 16 May Retrieved 5 August Who's Who online Oxford University Press ed.

Subscription or UK public library membership required. London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 16 March Desert Island Discs. Radio 4. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Bibcode : PNAS. PMC Jeffreys FRS". University of Leicester. Archived from the original on 26 October Retrieved 15 December Leicester City Council. Archived from the original on 14 April Investigative Genetics.

BBC News. Nature Biotechnology. Jeffreys realized its potential for solving problems of identification. His first opportunity to use DNA fingerprinting occurred in Marchwhen he proved a boy was the son of a British citizen, allowing him to enter the country. The first case of human DNA used in crime detection occurred the next year.

Sir alec jeffreys biography of william: As one of the great

A teenage girl was raped and strangled in a village near Jeffreys's laboratory in Leicester. Body fluids were recovered, but no suspect was found. Three years later it happened again. Another teenage girl was strangled in the same way as the first. A year-old caterer confessed to the second murder but not to the first. However, the DNA evidence from both murders was the same.

The man had falsely confessed to the murder of the second girl. The DNA evidence did eventually reveal the real killer when blood samples from village men were taken. The use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations soon spread worldwide. In Kary Mullis discovered polymerase chain reaction PCRa technique that allows small amounts of DNA to be copied or amplified in test tubes.

The technique developed by Jeffreys has been refined to identify small sequences called short tandem repeats STRs. One of the most famous cases involving the use of DNA was the O. Simpson investigation in Jeffreys's work has provided an important tool for solving crimes. Jeffreys teaches human genetics at the University of Leicester and has shifted his research focus to the study of DNA mutations from one generation to the next.