William Hayes (geneticist) facts for kids

William Hayes (born January 18, 1913 – died January 7, 1994) was an important Irish geneticist. A geneticist is a scientist who studies genetics, which is how living things inherit traits from their parents. He was known for his discoveries about how bacteria share their genetic information.

Early Life

William Hayes was born in Rathfarnham, a place near Dublin, Ireland, in 1913. His father passed away when William was young. He was taught at home for a while, then went to schools like a preparatory school in Dalkey and later St Columba's College. This is where he first became really interested in science as a hobby. Later, he studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, finishing his studies in 1937.

His Work as a Scientist

After medical school, William Hayes worked at hospitals in Blackpool and Dublin. He then became an assistant in the Department of Bacteriology at Trinity College. Bacteriology is the study of tiny living things called bacteria. Here, he worked on identifying different types of bacteria and studied a specific kind called Salmonella.

World War II and Penicillin

During World War II, he served as a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps in India. This is where he started working with penicillin, which was a new and powerful medicine at the time used to fight bacterial infections. He even wrote a book about how to use penicillin. His work on Salmonella infections in the army made him very interested in how bacteria pass on their traits, which is called bacterial genetics.

Discoveries in Bacterial Genetics

In 1947, Hayes returned to Trinity College Dublin and continued his research on Salmonella. He became very passionate about bacterial genetics. In 1950, he moved to the University of London and began studying how bacteria "mate" or share genetic material.

He made a huge discovery: he found that when bacteria share genetic material, it's a one-way street. One bacterium (the "donor" or "male") gives some of its genetic material to another bacterium (the "recipient"). This was a very important finding because it showed that only part of the genetic information was transferred. He announced these exciting results in 1952, and it made him a world leader in his field.

Leading Research Teams

In 1957, William Hayes became the Director of a new Medical Research Council unit in London that focused on microbial genetics. Microbial genetics is the study of how tiny living things like bacteria inherit and pass on their traits. In 1968, his team moved to the Edinburgh University in Scotland, where they helped set up a new Department of Molecular Biology.

In 1973, he accepted a position as a professor of genetics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. There, he went back to doing hands-on experiments, working with a common type of bacteria called Escherichia coli.

Later Life

William Hayes retired in 1978 and moved to Sydney, Australia. He continued to work in a special role at the Botany Department of the Australian National University for much of the 1980s. He passed away in 1994. He had married Honora Lee in 1941, and their son Michael became a medical professional.

Awards and Honours

William Hayes received many important awards and honours for his scientific work, including:

• Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (1943)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1964) – This is a very high honour for scientists in the United Kingdom.
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1968)
• Australian Academy of Science (1976)
• Honorary Degrees (special university awards) from several universities, including the University of Leicester, University of Dublin, University of Kent, and the National University of Ireland.
• He also gave many important lectures, such as the Royal Society Leeuwenhoek Lecture (1965) and the Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture (1977).