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Edwin Southern
 
 
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Professor Sir Edwin Mellor Southern, FRS (born 1938) is a 2005 Lasker Award
Lasker Award

The Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science....
-winning molecular biologis
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
t. His award is for the invention of the Southern blot
Southern blot

A Southern blot is a method routinely used in molecular biology to check for the presence of a DNA sequence in a DNA sample. Southern blotting combines agarose gel electrophoresis electrophoresis for size separation of DNA with methods to transfer the size-separated DNA to a filter membrane for probe hybridization....
, now a common laboratory procedure, when he was working at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
. Professor Southern is Professor of Biochemistry (Emeritus) at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 and a fellow of Trinity College
Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England....
. He was made a Knight Bachelor
Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Chivalric order....
 in the June 2003 Birthday Honours for services to the development of DNA Microarray Technologies.

Southern is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of Oxford Gene Technology.






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Professor Sir Edwin Mellor Southern, FRS (born 1938) is a 2005 Lasker Award
Lasker Award

The Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science....
-winning molecular biologis
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
t. His award is for the invention of the Southern blot
Southern blot

A Southern blot is a method routinely used in molecular biology to check for the presence of a DNA sequence in a DNA sample. Southern blotting combines agarose gel electrophoresis electrophoresis for size separation of DNA with methods to transfer the size-separated DNA to a filter membrane for probe hybridization....
, now a common laboratory procedure, when he was working at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
. Professor Southern is Professor of Biochemistry (Emeritus) at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 and a fellow of Trinity College
Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England....
. He was made a Knight Bachelor
Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Chivalric order....
 in the June 2003 Birthday Honours for services to the development of DNA Microarray Technologies.

Southern is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of Oxford Gene Technology. He is also the founder and chairman of a Scottish charity, The Kirkhouse Trust, which aims to promote education and research in the Natural Sciences, particularly the biological and medical sciences. In addition the Edina Trust was founded to promote science in schools. These charities are financed using royalty income from licensing microarray technology.

Southern blot

The Southern blot is used for DNA
DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
 analysis and was routinely used for genetic fingerprinting and paternity testing prior to the development of microsatellite markers for this purpose. The procedure is also frequently used to determine the number of copies of a gene in the genome. The concepts of the Southern blot were used in the development and creation of the modern microarray slide, which is a promising experimental tool. The northern blot
Northern blot

The northern blot is a technique used in molecular biology research to study gene expression. It takes its name from its similarity to the Southern blot technique, named for biologist Edwin Southern....
 is a similar procedure for RNA
RNA

Ribonucleic acid is a type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nucleobase, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate....
, playing off the Southern name. The western blot
Western blot

The western blot is an analytical technique used to detect specific proteins in a given sample of tissue homogenate or extract. It uses gel electrophoresis to separate native or denatured proteins by the length of the polypeptide or by the 3-D structure of the protein ....
 is a further pun on the Southern blot, but is an important research tool in protein detection.

Awards

In 1990 Southern was one of the winners of the Gairdner Foundation International Award
Gairdner Foundation International Award

The Gairdner Foundation International Award is given annually at a special dinner to three to six people for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science....
. In 1998 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 Nations....
 of the Royal Society of London. In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research
Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research

The Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease....
, jointly with Alec Jeffreys
Alec Jeffreys

Sir Alec John Jeffreys, Fellow of the Royal Society is a United Kingdom geneticist, who developed techniques for DNA fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used all over the world in forensic science to assist police detective work, and also to resolve paternity and immigration disputes....
 of the University of Leicester
University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is a research led university based in Leicester, England, with approximately 20,000 registered students - about 13,000 of them full-time students and 7,000 part-time and/or distance learning....
 for his invention of the Southern blot. In 2005 he was also awarded the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities
Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities

The Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities is dedicated to advancing core and research biotechnology laboratories through research, communication, and education....
 Award for outstanding contributions to Biomolecular Technologies.

External links

  • (Pubmed)