Richard Gardner (embryologist) facts for kids
Sir Richard Lavenham Gardner, born on June 10, 1943, is a British scientist. He studies embryos (very early stages of life) and genetics (how traits are passed down). He is now a retired professor at the University of York. He used to be a special research professor for the Royal Society.
Since 1982, he has led a group at the Royal Society that looks into research on human embryos, stem cells, and cloning. He was the President of the Institute of Biology (now the Royal Society of Biology) from 2006 to 2008. He also led the Institute of Animal Biotechnology from 1986 to 2006. Today, he helps lead the Animals in Science – Education Trust.
Early Life and Education
Gardner was born in Dorking, Surrey, England. His father, an artist who made stained glass, died a few weeks later during World War II.
Gardner went to St John's School, Leatherhead. He then studied Natural Sciences at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. For his PhD, he worked with Robert Edwards, who later won a Nobel Prize. In 1973, Gardner became a lecturer at Oxford. From 1978 until he retired in 2008, he held a special research position there from the Royal Society.
Exploring Early Life: Scientific Discoveries
Gardner was a pioneer in moving cells and tissues between very early mouse embryos, called blastocysts. He also rebuilt embryos from their parts. He was the first to use a method called "clonal analysis" to study how cells decide what they will become and what they can do in mammals. This helped him show that the cells that form the germline (which pass on genetic information) do not separate very early in development.
His method of injecting cells into blastocysts became widely used. It helped scientists see if embryonic stem (ES) cells could develop properly and become part of the germline after genetic modification. With Robert Edwards, he also showed how preimplantation genetic diagnosis could work. This is a way to check embryos for genetic problems before they are implanted.
His main research focused on:
- Watching what happens to cells in early mammal development.
- Finding out where stem cells come from in early embryos and how to get them easily.
- Learning how much early development in mammals is already planned out.
For many years, Gardner led the Royal Society's committee on human embryo research. He also led their group on stem cells and cloning. In these roles, he often gave advice on the science and ethics of cloning. He worked to make these complex topics clearer for everyone to understand.
He was President of the Institute of Animal Technology from 1986 to 2006. He also served as President of the Institute of Biology (now the Royal Society of Biology) from 2006 to 2008. He is a trustee for the Edwards and Steptoe Research Trust and leads the Animals in Science Education Trust.
He gave important lectures, including the Cumberland Lodge Annual Lecture in 2010 and the British Fertility Society's Patrick Steptoe Memorial Lecture in 2015.
Awards and Honours
- 1977 – Received the Scientific Medal from the Zoological Society of London
- 1979 – Became a Fellow of The Royal Society
- 1999 – Won the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology
- 2001 – Awarded the Royal Society's Royal Medal
- 2004 – Received the Albert Brachet Prize from the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences
- 2005 – Was made a Knight for his important work in Biological Sciences
- 2012 – Received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Cambridge
