Ann G. Clarke (née Jewkes) is a British immunologist and co-founder of the

Frozen Ark The Frozen Ark is a charitable frozen zoo project created jointly by the Zoological Society of London, the Natural History Museum and University of Nottingham. The project aims to preserve the DNA and living cells of endangered species to retain t ...

project.

Career

Clarke's research focused on the immunological relationship between mouse mothers and embryos. For six years she was an Inspector for the

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United ...

. She and her husband,

Bryan Clarke Bryan Campbell Clarke (24 June 1932 – 27 February 2014) was a British Professor of genetics, latterly emeritus at the University of Nottingham. Clarke is particularly noted for his work on apostatic selection (which is a term he coined ...

, made several scientific expeditions to

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

, where they realised that the '' partula'' snail was facing rapid extinction after the introduction of a predator as a biological control for a different species. Inspired by this, they and

Anne McLaren Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, (26 April 1927 – 7 July 2007) was a British scientist who was a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation (IVF),

(1927–2007) founded the

project to preserve the DNA of species threatened with extinction. the project held some 48,000 frozen samples from 5,500 species. In 2017 Clarke was the subject of an episode of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

The Life Scientific ''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Professor Jim Al-Khalili , in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of one living scientist. The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili a ...

''.

Selected publications

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Personal life

Ann Jewkes married Professor

(1932–2014) in 1960. They had a daughter and a son.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British women biologists British immunologists {{UK-biologist-stub