News
The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Dr Nick Fradgley as the winner of the 2023/24 Sir Kenneth Mather Memorial Prize.
It is a great honour to receive the Sir Kenneth Mather Memorial Prize for my PhD research project. Many thanks to the Genetics Society and my supervisors; especially Alison Bentley who nominated me for this award.
My PhD project was based at NIAB and the University of Cambridge and the thesis title was ‘Genetic control and prediction of milling and baking quality for UK wheat breeding’. The project explored applying quantitative genetics tools and models in the commercial DSV UK wheat breeding programme to improve the prediction and selection of wheat milling and baking quality traits.
Since graduating, I completed a short project with the CIMMYT wheat breeding programme in Mexico and have moved to Australia to start a postdoctoral fellowship at CSIRO where I am modelling genotype by environment interactions in long-term wheat multi-environment trial datasets to understand and predict adaption to variable Australian growing environments.
The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Dr Matthew Higgs as the winner of the 2023/24 Bruce Cattanach Prize.
It is such an honour to receive the Bruce Cattanach Prize for my PhD thesis. I would like to first thank the Genetics Society for selecting me for this award. I would also like to thank my amazing supervisors, Prof Anthony Isles and Prof Rosalind John for their support over the years and a special thank you to Anthony for my nomination. Furthermore, this award recognises research using non-human in vivo animal models and I am deeply grateful to the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research with the Mary Lyon Centre, International Facility for Mouse Genetics, at MRC Harwell for generating the mouse models used in my thesis.
With an academic background in biology and psychology and an insatiable interest in evolutionary genetics, I undertook a Wellcome-funded PhD programme in Integrative Neuroscience at Cardiff University. My PhD thesis was titled: ‘A Systems Level Approach to Identify and Validate Imprinted Genes Involved in Parental Care and the Associated Neural Circuitry’. The overarching aim of my work was to determine whether the long-standing relationship between imprinted genes and parenting behaviour would be reflected in the expression of imprinted genes in the parenting-associated neural circuitry of the brain. Alongside single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial analysis, I performed extensive parenting behaviour assessments on in-vivo mouse models. It’s amazing to be awarded this prize for my research on imprinted genes almost 40 years following Bruce’s seminal papers on the topic!
I am now working as a Science Writer with Front Line Genomics in which I produce articles and reports on topics in genetics to help scientists make sense of the field. This role allows me to combine my love of science communication with my interests in all things genetics.
“It’s a real honour to receive this award, I genuinely didn’t believe it when I was notified. I would like to give a deep thank you to everyone that has helped me get this far, especially to Prof. Anthony Isles for my nomination. It’s amazing to be awarded this prize for my research on imprinted genes almost 40 years following Bruce’s seminal papers on the topic!”
Matthew Higgs
The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Dr Pontus Skoglund, Francis Crick Institute, as the winner of the 2024 Balfour Lecture.
Pontus Skoglund is the group leader of the Francis Crick Institute’s Ancient Genomics laboratory. He obtained his PhD in evolutionary genetics from Uppsala University in 2013 with Mattias Jakobsson and thereafter did his postdoctoral research with David Reich at Harvard Medical School. His research has focused on developing new approaches to propel the field of ancient DNA into the genomic era. His PhD research revealed population migrations as catalysers for the transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to agriculture in Europe, and he expanded this to worldwide regions in his postdoc research. His independent lab has used ancient DNA to pioneer research revealing the origin and evolution of dogs and their wild ancestors, the evolution of our species Homo sapiens, and the evolution of bacteria and human immunity in prehistory. He is a Wellcome Trust Investigator, ERC starting grantee, EMBO Young Investigator, Vallee Foundation Scholar and Blavatnik Award finalist.
The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Prof Adele Marston, University of Edinburgh, as the winner of the 2024 Mary Lyon Medal.
Adele Marston is a Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh and a Wellcome Investigator. She is the Director of the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology and the Discovery Research Platform for Hidden Cell Biology.
Adele investigates the fundamental mechanisms by which cells reproduce themselves and transmit their genome to the next generation. She has a particular interest in meiosis, the cell division that generates eggs and sperm. Using budding yeast as a model system, she has defined key concepts of chromosome segregation and investigated how errors in these pathways could account for the high error rates observed in human oocytes.
Adele trained in Biochemistry, gaining a BA from the University of Oxford before completing her DPhil in the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, also at the University of Oxford. She carried out postdoctoral work at Harvard University (USA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), where she developed her research interest in meiosis. Since 2005, Adele has led a research group in the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, successively funded by a Wellcome Career Development Fellowship, a Senior Research Fellowship and an Investigator Award.
Adele was the Genetics Society Promega Young Life Scientist of the Year (1999) and an EMBO Young Investigator (2010). She was elected to EMBO membership in 2019 and to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2022.
The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Prof Rob Martienssen, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, as the winner of the 2024 Genetics Society Medal.
Rob Martienssen received his undergraduate and graduate training in Genetics at Cambridge University, and joined the faculty at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1989 following postdoctoral studies at the University of California at Berkeley. His research focuses on epigenetic mechanisms that shape and regulate the genome, and their impact on development and inheritance. He works on transposable elements, first discovered by McClintock and prevalent in all organisms, and has shown that small RNA guide histone modification and chromosome segregation in fission yeast, as well as chromosome dosage and transposon control in the plant germline. He has co-discovered genes and transposons that underlie developmental and epigenetic traits in the oil palm, and greatly impact yield and sustainability.
Rob received the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Award in 2003 for his work revealing a link between epigenetic modifications of the chromosome and RNA interference. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He held the Chair Blaise Pascal at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris in 2011-2014. He was awarded the McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics in 2018, the Martin Gibbs Medal from the American Society of Plant Biology in 2019, and the Royal Society Darwin Medal in 2020. He is a co-founder of Orion Genomics LLC, a biotechnology company based in St Louis MO and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Genetics Society is delighted to announce Prof Alison Bentley as the winner of the 2024 JBS Haldane award.
Alison Bentley is an applied crop scientist working in genetics and plant breeding spanning fundamental understanding of plant processes through to the development of field- and farm-level decision support tools. She primarily worked on wheat as a major staple food crop in a range of research environments in Australia, the UK and Mexico. Most recently Alison was Director of the Global Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico and prior to that Director of Genetics and Breeding at NIAB in Cambridge, UK. She is currently a Bayer Visiting School in the Plant Breeding Center at The University of Minnesota, USA. In the wider community, she created and leads the Women in Crop Science network (www.womenincropscience.org), developed to boost connections, increase visibility, and foster greater gender equity. Alison strongly believes in the importance of speaking up to highlight the urgency of addressing global food security challenges, and in creating more inclusive and equitable working environments.
Image: Jeremy Bishop.
JBS Haldane Lecture 2024 – Prof Alison Bently
Genetics Society Medal 2024 – Prof Robert Martienssen
Mary Lyon Medal 2024 – Prof Adele Marston
Balfour Lecture 2024 – Dr Pontus Skoglund
Bruce Cattanach Prize 2023 – Dr Matthew Higgs
Sir Kenneth Mather 2023/24 – Dr Nick Fradgley
“One of the most accessible ways to engage in outreach… It’s flexible, enjoyable, and rewarding [and] makes you think about your work from a completely new perspective.” Luke Townsend, scientist
Help school students better understand how members of the Genetics Society have moved genetics beyond Mendel to being the cutting edge of research.
Take part in I’m a Scientist and connect online with school students to show them what it’s really like working in genetics research. You’ll engage with classes in fast-paced, instant messaging-style Chats, and answer their follow-up questions.
Sign up here: imascientist.org.uk/signup/c/
No audio or video kit is required. Everything happens online. Join in at the times that suit you, with a suggested commitment of at least 1 hour per week across the 4-week activity.
Students need to connect with people who work across a wide range of genetics-related roles. You could be a technician, a researcher, an analyst, or manage lab facilities. Get involved.
The Genetics Zone is funded by the Genetics Society, the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Have questions about taking part? Email support@imascientist.org.uk or call us on 01225 667922
photo: Norman Russell
The Genetics Society is saddened to learn of the death of Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, OBE, FRS, FMedSci, FRSE, on 10th September 2023. Sir Ian was a world-renowned British embryologist and the chair of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He led the research that produced Dolly, the first animal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell. Dolly was born in 1996 at The Roslin Institute, now part of the University of Edinburgh. As a part of Dolly@20 celebration, Dr Kay Boulton and Dr Doug Vernimmen interviewed Sir Ian for the Genetics Society Newsletter. You can read this interview here.
The August 2023 89th issue of the Genetics Society Magazine is now available for download.
“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the description of the double helix. To celebrate we hosted a summer symposium on DNA: Past, Present, Future and ran a school arts competition inspired by DNA and the history of genetics.
In fact, the cover art on this issue of the Magazine is a piece named “Details” by Hashim Siraj, who won the runner-up prize of the 2023 Genetics Society Schools’ Art Competition. When asked about their piece, Hashim reflected “When some things seem common or ordinary, they can be seen from the same viewpoint thousands of times and gain a new outlook each time.” While judging the entries, it became apparent that we all saw different thing in this beautiful, Rorschach-esque piece… Evolutionary trees? Brain-sections? A moth’s face? We’d love to hear what YOU see when you look at it – reach out and let us know!
Our summer DNA: Past, Present, Future event at the University of Cambridge was the perfect setting for some of prize lectures to be delivered. On page 8, we present you with all your 2023 Genetics Society prize winners and get a little flavour of their inspiring research and personal perspectives. Coincidentally, last year’s summer event celebrating the 200th birthday anniversary of Gregor Mendel was the catalyst for a fruitful collaboration between an educational outreach charity and our very own Applied and Quantitative Genetics representative Lindsey Compton. See pages 26-27 to read about how they showed young minds how amazing genetics can be, and how plant genetics can address the challenges of world food security – showcasing the vital role that plants play in the future of our world!
Speaking of plants, we also have the incredible story of A.E. Watkins who went from being an “Assistant Agricultural Officer” during World War I, tasked with liaising with the local French farmers to secure food for troops, to a young academic upstart at the University of Cambridge, racing against his seniors to collect several thousand samples of Triticum (Wheat) from literally around the World. In a time before the internet, one can only imagine the amount of patience and letter-writing must have gone into this mission! See pages 24-25 for evidence that it really was letters that achieved this. It is also a testament to the memory of an ostensibly shy scientist who quietly and resolutely overcame the obstacles of academic hierarchy to form a resource that is as relevant to genetics and the UK’s most important crop species today as it was then. If that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what is.
Lastly, many thanks to all the contributors of this issue and you, the readers! Reach out if you have any suggestions, requests, or contributions – I really do want to hear from you!
Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Güneş Taylor“
Dr Adam Rutherford will present the 2023 Genetics Society Haldane Lecture at the Royal Institution from 7:00pm – 8:30pm on Wednesday 11th October 2022:
Genetics: Standing on the shoulders of prejudice
Talk description: In this talk, Adam Rutherford explores how, as we continue to use and celebrate the advances of our intellectual predecessors, we frequently fail to acknowledge the toxic political views that informed their work.
Theatre attendance:
To enable the Ri to meet current regulations, tickets for theatre are limited and must be booked in advance via Eventbrite.
Cost:
Non-Genetics Society members – £16,
Concession – £10,
Ri members and Ri patrons – £7.
Genetics Society members – FREE using the secret code emailed to members. Please, contact theteam with your member’s number if you did not receive the code.
Remote attendance:
To receive a link to the live event, please book in advance using Eventbrite, following the instructions.
If you are a member and do not receive the email, please, contact Theteam with your membership number.
There will be a drinks reception for members from 6pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
The Genetics Society is inviting nominations for the 2024 Bruce Cattanach prize and the Sir Kenneth Mather Memorial prize.
The Bruce Cattanach prize is awarded annually for an outstanding PhD thesis related to the use of non-human in vivo animal models.
The Sir Kenneth Mather Memorial Prize is awarded to a BSc, MSc or PhD student of any UK University or Research Institution who has shown outstanding performance in the area of quantitative or population genetics within the current academic year.
Further details including benefits to awardees are available on our website:
Sir Kenneth Mather Memorial Prize
If you would like to nominate someone for these awards, please confirm that your candidate is willing to be nominated and send the following documentation electronically to secretary@genetics.org.uk by midnight on Friday, September 1st, with the name of the award included in the subject line:
• a two-page nominee CV, including publications
• a one-page letter of recommendation outlining their contributions and suitability for the prize
Self-nominations are not accepted and the nominator must be a Genetics Society member.
We look forward to receiving your nominations!
We are currently recruiting new Committee Members for:
- Scientific Meetings Secretary (Executive Committee)
- Applied and Quantitative Genetics (Ordinary Committee)
- Cell and Developmental Genetics (Ordinary Committee)
- Gene Structure, Function and Regulation (Ordinary Committee)
- Corporate Genetics and Biotechnology (Ordinary Committee)
All posts have a four-year term (January 2024 – December 2027):
More details about the role are on the Committee Vacancies page.
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the publication of the DNA helix structure we invited submissions of art from UK school students on the theme “DNA: Past, Present and Future”.
The Genetics Society is pleased to announce Isla Scott as the winner. Isla’s artwork will feature on the cover of Heredity, a £100 voucher and £500 towards science equipment for their school).
The runner up is Hashim Siraj, who will recieve a £50 voucher and £250 towards science equipment for their school.
Prof. Sara Goodacre, Editor of Heredity, said of the entries: “Heredity is delighted to congratulate all participants of the art competition and in particular, the winners. It is wonderful not only to be able to celebrate past success, but to be reminded how far our community has come since then, as well as to think about the exciting discoveries that lie in the future.”
Winner
Name: Isla Scott
Age: 14
Materials used: digital drawing (sketchbook app)
Runner up
Name: Hashim Siraj
Age: 14
Materials used: paper and acrylic paint
Name of Art piece: Details
The DNA& podcast is a discussion of all things relating to DNA& our health. Listen to episode one now!
With their signature light-hearted and clear style of communication, hosts Hannah & Angelos hope to engage non-experts in a discussion of genomic healthcare. Season one will feature episodes on the UK’s newborn genome screening programme, pharmacogenomics, Covid-19, fertility, and gene therapy, with many more planned!
These episodes will discuss the translation of research into healthcare innovations, at a time when genomics is becoming increasingly visible to patients. The UK’s newborn genome screening program, for example, will offer whole-genome sequencing at birth. The DNA& team aims to engage audiences across multiple platforms, leading discussions from their perspective as scientists (recently shown by the Genetics Society to be perceived as the most trustworthy voices by the British public), together with guests.
DNA& is made possible by the UK Genetics Society, thanks to a public engagement grant and invaluable training as part of their communicating your science workshop.
Find DNA& podcast on Social media
@DNAandPod (Twitter)
@dnaandpod (Instagram)
or email at hannah@dnaandpod.co.uk
About the hosts
Hannah is a computational postdoc at Imperial College London. She ventures into the lab on occasion when her (brave) colleagues invite her to peer into a microscope. The rest of the time, she can be found talking to her computer in R/Python trying to interpret the mechanisms of disease risk variants. She is delighted to have a platform on which to talk about genetics, which she can do all day. Find her musing on Twitter @Hammaude or sharing stories on
Instagram/TikTok @dr.hammaude.
Angelos is a 2nd year PhD student in bioinformatics at Imperial College London and his work focuses on the application of machine learning models in understanding and predicting cardiometabolic disease. He believes that scientific research should always be accessible to non-scientists, and hopes that DNA& along with other science communication podcasts will set a platform for open discussions, ultimately making scientific research easier to understand and appreciate. Outside science, Angelos also enjoys photography, capturing moments with his film camera and uploading to Instagram under the alias @exo.lampsis.
Artwork by Nikos Kabasele @nikos.kabasele nicolas.kabasele@gmail.com
Music by Auburn Jam Music LTD @auburnjammusic www.auburnjam.co.uk
Photography by Yang Liu @yangtakesphotos yangtakesphotos@outlook.com
The Genetics Society is pleased to welcome our new honorary secretary, Professor Ian Henderson.
Ian is a Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. His group investigates genetic and epigenetic inheritance in plants, with a focus on meiosis. Recently, his group have used long-read DNA sequencing to analyse repetitive regions of the genome, including the centromeres. Their current work includes exploring the roles of recombination within the centromeres, and understanding their rapid evolution.
Work in Ian’s group seeks to translate knowledge of recombination mechanisms in crop breeding, to accelerate strain improvement and help adapt to the changing climate. Prior to arriving in Cambridge, Ian performed post-doctoral research with Prof. Steve Jacobsen (UCLA, USA) on RNA-directed in DNA methylation in plants, and completed his Ph.D with Prof. Dame Caroline Dean (John Innes Centre, UK) where he investigated control of flowering-time by RNA binding proteins.
Find out more about Ian’s research here.
The Genetics Society has awarded the Mendel Medal for 2023 to Prof Dame Caroline Dean.
Prof Dean will be presented with her award on 7th November 2023, at the Genetics Society’s scientific meeting in Newcastle: Genetics of future food production and the green revolution 2.0.
You can find out more about her achievements here.
The University of Cambridge have published a profile of Shankar Balasubramanian and his collaborator, David Klenerman, who discovered a revolutionary sequencing technology.
Shankar is the Plenary speaker at the Genetics Society event “DNA: Past, Present and Future”, to be held 29th June 2023. The event will mark the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix and will feature presentations by The Society’s 2023 award winners.
We would be thrilled if you could join us at the event, which will be held at the Sanger building in the Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge. Stay tuned for more details of the event.
Sickle Cell Unboxed is a new podcast series funded by The Genetics Society UK. The series is produced and hosted by medical doctor and multimedia producer Dr Yemisi Bokinni, and is a public engagement initiative centred on creatively exploring life sciences themes.
You can find links to each of the episodes here, or all of the content at sicklecellunboxed.com.
In an online event, experts and guests featured on the series will be discussing Sickle Cell Anemia before a Q&A, as part of Rare Disease Day on 28th February 2023.
Sickle Cell Anaemia, a hereditary blood disorder, is the fastest-growing genetic condition in the UK and is caused when two copies of a gene mutation are inherited, one from either parent. Historically, at-risk populations for Sickle Cell Anaemia are individuals with ancestry from Africa, the Caribbean, India and parts of the Arab world.
The series creatively ‘unboxes’ themes such as the historical origins and early explanations rooted in African folklore, to the more present themes of Sickle Cell and relationships, lived experiences in the UK and Nigeria, in addition to notes on pioneering new treatments and medical advances for future cures. Guests on the podcast hail from the UK, Nigeria and Ghana, and include senior haematologists, a researcher at the University of Oxford, advocacy practitioners and notedly, insights from individuals living with the condition. The series is set to conclude with an online event scheduled for Rare Disease Day 2023, February 28th, that will provide an opportunity for audiences to engage with the guest speakers. The podcast is widely available across all major podcast hosting platforms.
Speaking from London, UK, a quote from Dr Yemisi Bokinni: “I was inspired to create this project after the unfortunate death of Evan Nathan Smith, a twenty-one-year-old who died of Sickle Cell in the UK, in part due to a lack of an understanding of the condition. Considering Sickle Cell is the fastest-growing genetic condition in the UK, I believe everyone should know about it. While the motivation for the podcast stemmed from a tragedy, I wanted to centre the essence of hope. The series concludes with the episode titled ‘Unboxing the future’ which bears testament to the beauty of science and research in improving all of our lives.
About Dr Yemisi Bokinni: Yemisi is a medical doctor and graduated from King’s College London with a Medical Degree and a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Genetics. She currently works as a Multimedia Producer and writer at Remedy Studios, a young media production company dedicated to producing bold and compelling life science programming that reaches and reflects diverse audiences.
The deadline for the Communicating Your Science workshop has been extended to 28th February 2023.
This is a great opportunity to get experience and meet the experts, while also making your science and CV stand out.
Find out more about this exciting opporuntity here.
The Genetics Society has made awards up to £2,000 available to cover travel and accommodation costs associated with a field-based genetic research project.
The research should produce results that would typically be suitable for publication in the Society’s journal Heredity.
The deadline for the current rounnd is now midnight on 14th February 2023.
Find more details here.
A survey of over 2000 British adults finds that trust in genetics is high and went up significantly during the pandemic. It also finds that there is a hunger for more coverage of genetics.
In a study funded by the Genetics Society, a survey of over 2000 randomly selected British adults was commissioned through public polling company Kantar Public.
You can download the report on the public perception of genetics here and can find the technical report here.
Main conclusions of the survey:
1. More than a third of the UK public report an increase in trust in science through the pandemic
2. In particular, attitudes to genetics have become more positive
3. Nearly a half of the UK public would like to hear more about science in the media (and fewer than 10% think there is too much science)
4. University academics, NHS spokespersons and governmental advisors are all well trusted sources.
The survey also led to a research paper in Plos Biology titled “People with more extreme attitudes towards science have self-confidence in their understanding of science, even if this is not justified”.
We have grants available to support you to gain experience in any area of genetics by doing a research project during the summer holiday prior to the final year of your degree.
Apply before 31st March 2023.
You can find more information here and can look here at some of the previous summer student projects we’ve funded.
Follow the links for the history and specific criteria of each award:
The Genetics Society Medal– outstanding research contributions to genetics
The Mary Lyon Medal – outstanding mid-career contribution to genetics
The Balfour Lecture – outstanding young investigator
The JBS Haldane Lecture – outstanding communicator of genetics
The Bruce Cattanach Prize – outstanding PhD thesis considering non-human in vivo animal models
You can find profiles of our esteemed 2023 award winners here.
We’re excited to introduce our new Magazine Editor, Dr Güneş Taylor.
Güneş is a postdoctoral training fellow at The Crick, researching ovary formation and function- find out more about her research here.
Güneş is a highly effective science communicator, having spoken widely on genome editing, sex and gender and the future of human reproduction to a diverse range of audiences. What’s more, she’s looking to develop The Genetics Society into a vibrant community where we can share our stories, ideas and passion for science.
We’re looking for more content, including:
- Popular science book reviews
- Pictures of research
- Science comics/illustrations
- Science games and public engagement activities
We welcome any other ideas and themes for future editions of the magazine. Reach out to Güneş on her channels if you’d like to participate and contribute: Twitter @GunesTaylor or @GenSocUK or magazine@genetics.org.uk.
The current deadline for content is noon on Monday 23rd January.
The amount for the Junior Scientist Conference Grant Scheme A grant has increased to £200.
Grants up to £200 are available for travel and essential overnight accommodation to attend any of the Genetics Society’s own meetings and those of our Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Registration for these meetings will be free when meeting the eligibility criteria. There is no limit to the frequency that Scheme (A) grants can be applied for to attend Genetics Society or SIG meetings.
Scheme (A) is open to undergraduate, Master’s and PhD student members and to postdoctoral scientist members of The Society within six years of their PhD viva. More information about the scheme A grant, as well as other related grants, is available here.
The Genetics Society is proud to welcome Dr Ed Hollox as a member of the committee as a represetative of evolutionary, ecological and population genetics, beginning his four-year term in January 2023.
Biography
Ed is a Reader in the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology at the University of Leicester. His research focuses on genome structural variation, its evolutionary causes and its phenotypic consequences, primarily in humans. Ed also teaches extensively across the BSc Biological Sciences at Leicester, and is co-author of the textbook Human Evolutionary Genetics. He has been a member of the Genetics Society for over 20 years, and local ambassador at Leicester for 10 years. He is passionate about internationalisation in science and academia, and is keen to use his role as committee member to promote links that cross national boundaries.
We’re proud to announce the award winners for 2023- congratulations!
JBS Haldane Lecture 2023 – Dr Adam Rutherford, University College London, London
Genetics Society Medal 2023 – Professor Douglas Higgs, University of Oxford, Oxford
Mary Lyon Medal 2023 – Professor Cecilia Lindgren, University of Oxford, Oxford
Balfour Lecture 2023 – Dr Lucy van Dorp, University College London, London
Bruce Cattanach Prize – Dr Louisa Zolkiewski, University of Oxford
Sir Kenneth Mather Memorial Prize – Sam Mitchell, University of Edinburgh
Image: Frank Hailer.
Join us in person for the 2022 AGM at 17:30 on Friday 18th November at The Royal Society London., immediately following the Genetics of Reproduction meeting.
Details for joining online and relevant documentation will be circulated to members in the coming weeks.
AGENDA:
- Minutes from 2021 AGM
- Matters Arising
- President’s Report
- Honorary Treasurer’s Report
- Honorary Secretary’s Report
- Any Other Business
Prof Michael Fay will present the 2022 Genetics Society Haldane Lecture at the Royal Institution from 7:00pm – 8:30pm on Thursday 17th November 2022:
Back from the brink: genetics in plant conservation
Talk description: In this talk, Michael Fay explores the conservation of the native lady’s slipper orchid, the genetics of plants that have been studied across a wide range of species, and how this has helped scientists make conservation recommendation. Discover how a plant, once thought to be extinct in England, is part of a long-running conservation project.
Theatre attendance:
To enable the Ri to meet current regulations, tickets for theatre are limited and must be booked in advance via Eventbrite.
Cost:
Non-Genetics Society members – £16,
Concession – £10,
Ri members and Ri patrons – £7.
Genetics Society members – FREE using the secret code emailed to members. Please, contact theteam with your member’s number if you did not receive the code.
Remote attendance:
To receive a link to the live event, please book in advance using Eventbrite, following the instructions.
If you are a member and do not receive the email, please, contact Theteam with your membership number.
There will be a drinks reception for members from 6pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
