Malcolm Andrew Ferguson-Smith, (born 5 September 1931) is a British

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

Early life and education

Ferguson-Smith was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1931, the son of physician John Ferguson-Smith and educated at Stowe School. He graduated from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1955 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree.

Career and research

In 1955–1956 he was House Physician and House Surgeon at the

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved from the cit ...

in Glasgow and in 1956–1958

Senior House Officer A senior house officer (SHO) is a non-consultant hospital doctor in the Republic of Ireland. SHOs are supervised in their work by consultants and registrars. In training posts these registrars and consultants oversee training and are usually their d ...

(SHO) and Registrar in

Pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

Johns Hopkins

In 1959 he was appointed a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in Medicine at the School of Medicine,

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

where he worked on chromosome analysis for nearly three years, establishing the first

human chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

diagnostic laboratory in the USA.

Return to Glasgow

In 1961 he returned to the Department of

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

at the University of Glasgow and was appointed successively Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader, becoming the first Burton Professor of Medical Genetics in 1973. Apart from teaching genetics to

medical student A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...

s his duties involved the establishment of a Regional Genetics Service for the West of Scotland. This provided opportunities for contributing to the human gene map using familial chromosome polymorphisms, deletion mapping, in situ hybridisation and chromosome sorting by flow cytometry. His work on mapping the

Y-linked Y linkage, also known as holandric inheritance (from Ancient Greek ὅλος ''hólos'', "whole" + ἀνδρός ''andrós'', "male"), describes traits that are produced by genes located on the Y chromosome. It is a form of sex linkage. Y&nbs ...

sex determinant in XX males led to the isolation of the mammalian sex-determining gene twenty-five years later.

Gene mapping

In 1987 he was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Pathology at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

and Director of the East Anglia Regional Genetics Service, where he furthered his research on

gene mapping Gene mapping describes the methods used to identify the locus of a gene and the distances between genes. Gene mapping can also describe the distances between different sites within a gene. The essence of all genome mapping is to place a c ...

. He retired as Head of Pathology in 1998 and moved to the University Department of Veterinary Medicine. In 2002 he established the Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics which produced and distributed chromosome-specific DNA from over 120 species of animals, birds and fish to scientists worldwide for research in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and gene mapping. This data allowed comparisons between species to be made and mapped, illuminating the relationships between species and allowing research into genomic evolution.

Publications

* Translocation of c-abl oncogene in chronic myelocytic leukaemia * ''Early Prenatal Diagnosis'' (1983) * ''Prenatal Diagnosis & Screening'' (1992) * ''Essential Medical Genetics'' (5 edn, 1997)

Awards and honours

In 1998 he was appointed as the scientist member of Lord Phillips' Committee to review the UK Government's original Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) inquiry and consider the emergence of BSE and new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) and the actions taken, reporting in 2000. He was elected

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 socie ...

(FRSE) in 1978 and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

(FRS) in 1983. His papers are held at

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Personal life

He is the father of

Anne Ferguson-Smith Anne Carla Ferguson-Smith (born 23 July 1961) is a mammalian developmental geneticist. She is the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and International Partnerships at the University of Cambridge. Formerly ...

Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics The Arthur Balfour Professorship of Genetics is the senior List of Professorships at the University of Cambridge, professorship in genetics at the University of Cambridge, founded in 1912. It is thought to be the oldest Chair of Genetics in the Engl ...

in Cambridge.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson-Smith, Malcolm Andrew 1931 births Academics from Glasgow Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scientists from Glasgow Scottish geneticists People educated at Stowe School