Edwin Southern

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Sir
Edwin Southern
FRSE
Sir Edwin in 2012
Born
Edwin Mellor Southern

(1938-06-07) 7 June 1938 (age 85)[3]
Burnley, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Alma mater (BSc)
Known forSouthern blot
Awards
  • Gairdner award
    (1990)
  • Royal Medal (1998)
  • Lasker Award
    (2005)
Scientific career
Fields
Molecular Biology
Institutions
ThesisStudies on synthetic and naturally occurring enzyme metabolites (1964)
Doctoral studentsRobin Allshire[2]
Websitewww.ogt.co.uk/about/company/management/board_members/professor_sir_edwin_southern

Sir Edwin Mellor Southern

FRSE (born 7 June 1938)[4] is an English Lasker Award-winning molecular biologist, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. He is most widely known for the invention of the Southern blot, published in 1975[5] and now a common laboratory procedure.[6][7][8][9]

Early life and education

Southern was born in

Burnley, Lancashire and educated at Burnley Grammar School.[3] He has a brother named John Southern and a sister Kay Monie. He went on to read Chemistry at the University of Manchester (BSc Hons., 1958). He continued as a graduate student (then Demonstrator, 1963) in the Department of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, where he was awarded his PhD in 1962.[10]

Career and Research

Southern is also the founder and chairman of Oxford Gene Technology. He is also the founder (in 2000) 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, and the Edina Trust, which was founded to promote science in schools.[11][12] These charities are financed using royalty income from licensing microarray technology.

Southern blot

The Southern blot is used for DNA 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.[13] The concepts of the Southern blot were used in the development and creation of the modern microarray slide, which is an extensively used experimental tool. The northern blot, western blot and eastern blot, related procedures for the analysis of RNA, protein and post-translational modification of proteins, respectively, are all puns on Southern's name.

DNA microarray

Southern founded Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) in 1995,[1] a company that developed DNA microarray technology. OGT won a 1999 patent infringement lawsuit against Affymetrix based on his patent holdings in microarray technology.[14]

Awards and honours

In 1990, Southern was one of the winners of the

transcription of DNA sequences into RNA, and on patterns of DNA methylation.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Professor Sir Edwin Southern – Founder, Chairman and Chief Science Advisor". Oxford Gene Technology. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Edwin Southern CV" (PDF). Roche. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2012.
  3. ^
    S2CID 34584084
    .
  4. .
  5. .
  6. .
  7. .
  8. .
  9. ^ Kirkhouse Trust
  10. ^ Edina Trust
  11. ^ "Glossary:Southern blot". Nature.com.
  12. S2CID 5310891
    .
  13. ^ "List of winners". The Gairdner Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  14. The Royal Society. Archived from the original
    on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  15. ^ "Past Recipients". Association for Molecular Pathology. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  16. ^ "2005 Albert Lasker Award – Acceptance remarks by Edwin Southern". Lasker Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008.
  17. ^ "2005 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research". Lasker Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  18. ^ "ABRF Award". Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007.
  19. ^ "Professor Sir Edwin Mellor Southern FRS HonFRSE - The Royal Society of Edinburgh". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  20. ^ "EC/1983/34: Southern, Edwin Mellor". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015.