Azim Surani facts for kids

Azim Surani is a famous scientist from Kenya and Britain. He was born in 1945 in Kisumu, Kenya. He is a developmental biologist, which means he studies how living things grow and develop.

Since 1992, he has been a professor at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also leads research on how genes and cells work.

Learning and Studying

Azim Surani went to several universities to study science. He earned his first degree at Plymouth University. Then he got a master's degree from the University of Strathclyde.

He completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge. His teacher there was Robert Edwards, who later won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work.

What Azim Surani Researches

Azim Surani has made very important discoveries in biology. He studies how our genes work and how new life begins.

Genomic Imprinting

In 1984, Azim Surani and another scientist, Davor Solter, discovered something called genomic imprinting in mammals. This is a special way genes are passed down. It means that some genes work differently depending on whether they came from the mother or the father.

They also looked at how this process happens. They studied what these "imprinted" genes do for development. Sometimes, problems with imprinting can lead to human diseases.

Germ Cells and Epigenetics

Later, Surani found out how germ cells are made. Germ cells are the special cells that carry genetic information from parents to their children. He used a method called single-cell analysis to study these cells in mice. This method lets scientists look at what happens inside one single cell.

His research showed how a special "reset" happens in these germ cells. This reset is called epigenome reprogramming. It involves clearing out old genetic "marks" like DNA methylation. This process helps the new organism start with a fresh set of genetic instructions.

New Discoveries

Surani's team is now looking at how human germ cells develop. They are finding out how humans are different from mice in these early stages. This helps us understand more about human development.

He also studies other parts of our DNA, like transposable elements (sometimes called "jumping genes"). He looks at how our bodies protect themselves from these elements. He also studies noncoding RNAs, which are parts of our genetic material that don't make proteins but still have important jobs.

Awards and Honours

Azim Surani has received many awards for his important work. These awards show how much his discoveries have helped science.

• He received the Gabor Medal in 2001.
• He was given the Royal Medal in 2010.
• He also received the Mendel Lectures in 2010.

In 2018, he won the Canada Gairdner International Award with Davor Solter. They received this award for discovering genomic imprinting and how it affects development and disease. In 2006, he won the Rosenstiel Award with Davor Solter and Mary F. Lyon. This was for their important work on how genes are controlled in early mammal embryos.