Anthony John Clark OBE

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(18 September 1951 – 12 August 2004) was an English molecular biologist who was a founder of applying molecular technology to farm animals. He was director of the

Roslin Institute The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Easter Bush, Midlothian, Scotland, part of the University of Edinburgh, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. It is best known for creati ...

from 2002 to 2004.

Background

Born in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, Clark's family moved to Lincolnshire and he was educated at Barton Grammar School. He graduated with a degree in natural sciences from

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, a constituent college of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He then completed a Masters degree at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

, with a thesis on the regulation of development in a mudsnail. His PhD on Satellite DNA was conducted at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit in Edinburgh.

Career

After achieving his doctorate, Clark joined John Bishop's team at the Institute of Genetics,

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where he carried out research into the genes in the liver of mice. In 1985 he was appointed to the Animal Breeding Research Organisation (subsequently the

) where he began work in

genetic modification Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

to produce a sheep giving milk with human proteins. He was successful within five years. Tracy, born in 1990, was the first sheep to produce large quantities of human protein, making 35g of the alpha-1-antitrypsin (used in treatment of

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

) in each litre of her milk. During the 1990s, Clark continued to develop transgenic techniques on large animals. With his colleagues, he produced a sheep from which a prion protein gene had been removed, the first time this had been achieved in a large animal. Clark's work set the stage for Ian Wilmut's team at Roslin to clone a sheep, Dolly (1996), the result of transplanted DNA of an adult sheep to an unfertilized egg cell. He was appointed an OBE in 1997 for his contribution to Science.

Personal life

Clark met Helen Banfield at Cambridge in 1973, when they were both students. They married in 1975 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1977 where he took his doctorate. They had two sons, Charlie (1989), and Laurie (1991). One of his greatest pleasures was spending time with his family on the remote Isle of Colonsay, in the Inner Hebrides. He was respected by colleagues for his leadership, direction and the support he gave them. Clark died at the age of 52, suffering from depression. He was found hanged in his holiday home.

References

Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge British biologists 1951 births 2004 deaths People from Blackpool 20th-century biologists {{UK-biologist-stub