Patricia Simpson facts for kids
Patricia "Pat" Simpson is a famous British scientist who studies how living things grow and develop. She was a professor at the University of Cambridge and is now an Emeritus Professor there. This means she is a retired professor who is still highly respected for her work. She is also a special member of Newnham College. In 2000, she was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very old and important group of scientists.
Patricia Simpson earned her PhD, a high-level science degree, in 1976 from a university in Paris, France.
What Patricia Simpson Studies
Professor Simpson is especially known for her work on how insects grow and change. She has spent a lot of time studying tiny fruit flies. Her research looks at how the small hairs, called bristles, on fruit flies grow in specific patterns.
One of her big discoveries was finding out that the way these tiny hairs grow and where they appear is controlled by the same process. She showed that cells decide what they will become by talking to the cells around them.
How Cells Develop
She has also helped us understand something called lateral inhibition. This is a process where cells interact with each other and then decide to become different types of cells. Imagine a group of friends, and some decide to be artists while others decide to be musicians. It's a bit like that, but with cells!
This process involves a special part of the cell called a cellular receptor. It's important not just in insects but also in mammals, like humans. Her work helps us understand how humans develop and how some diseases might happen.
Awards and Honors
Patricia Simpson has received many awards for her important scientific work:
- 1993: Silver medal from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
- 1993: She became a member of the EMBO, a group for top scientists in Europe
- 2000: Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society
- 2008: Received the Waddington Medal from the British Society of Developmental Biology
- 2012: Became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2016: Received an Honorary Fellowship from Newnham College, Cambridge
External links
- "Patricia Simpson", Google Scholar
