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A scientific face for the fifty

Posted by , on 28 November 2018

Here at The Company of Biologists we’ve been debating the Bank of England’s decision to put a scientist on their new £50 note (the highest denomination note in England). The scientist must be deceased (only the Queen can grace notes while still alive) and ‘have shaped thought, innovation, leadership or values in the UK’.

Each of our five journals was asked to come up with their nominations for the face of the fifty. Here’s who they picked and why they picked them:

 

Source: The Gurdon Institute

 

Development

Anne McLaren

 

“McLaren was a towering figure in developmental and reproductive biology. She did foundational work in IVF, experimental chimeras and germ cell differentiation, contributed to regulatory policies on human embryo research, and championed pubic engagement”

 

 

Source: Wikipedia (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology – From the personal collection of Jenifer Glynn)

 

Journal of Cell Science

Rosalind Franklin

 

“She studied in Cambridge, and although a chemist, made a crucial, and often unrecognised, contribution to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA”

 

Source: WIkipedia (Sedgwick Museum)

 

Journal of Experimental Biology

Mary Anning

 

“English fossil collector/palaeontologist. Considered an expert in her field, contributing to important changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life, at a time when women were mostly excluded from the scientific community”

 

 

Source: National Library of Medicine

 

Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open

Fred Sanger

 

“Modern biology wouldn’t be what it is without him. Double Nobel winner known for sequencing DNA & pioneering work on the structure of proteins. Declined the offer of a knighthood, as did not wish to be addressed as Sir”


 

The Company of Biologists Twitter feed has a poll where you can pick your favourite out of the four:

 

 

What do you think of Development’s choice of Anne McLaren?  Which other developmental biologist do you think could be honoured? Let us know in the comments

 

Thumbs up (1 votes)
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