Sir Alec John Jeffreys (1950-), Professor of Genetics

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Geneticist. Jeffreys read biochemistry at the University of Oxford, obtaining his PhD in 1975. Since 1987, Jeffreys has been Professor of Genetics at the University of Leicester. In the mid-1980s, Jeffreys discovered that sequences within strands of DNA are unique for each individual (except identical twins) and act as a genetic 'fingerprint'. Jeffreys was knighted for his work in 1994. Awards he has received include the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2004), the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (2005), and the Dr H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics (2006).