Professor Sir David Baulcombe, from the Department of Plant Sciences, is the first recipient of the McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies awarded by the Maize Genetics Executive Committee.
Professor Sir David Baulcombe, from the Department of Plant Sciences, is the first recipient of the McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies awarded by the Maize Genetics Executive Committee.
This inaugural award was presented to Baulcombe in recognition of his career of scientific accomplishments. His work includes the characterization of mechanisms of viral pathogenesis in plants and identification of virus resistance genes. He also recognized the importance of gene silencing as a natural antiviral defense mechanism. In addition, he revealed many aspects of gene silencing mechanisms relevant to all eukaryotes, including the discovery of short silencing RNA molecules, a pivotal discovery in the RNAi field. Baulcombe was a postdoctoral fellow at UGA from 1979 to 1980.
“This award is in recognition of Baulcombe’s exceptional contributions in the field of plant epigenetics, a field where [Barbara] McClintock was one of the earliest pioneers,” said Jeff Bennetzen, committee chair.
Barbara McClintock (1902-1992), one of the foremost women scientists in 20th century America, is most noted for her pioneering research on transposable elements in maize. For this work she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983. She was the third woman to receive an unshared Nobel Prize in the sciences. The Maize Genetics Executive Committee awards the Barbara McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies in memory of McClintock’s many contributions.
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