Azim surani biography meaning

Abstract

The discovery of genomic imprinting by Davor Solter, Azim Surani and co-workers in the mid-1980s has provided a foundation for the study of epigenetic inheritance and the epigenetic control of gene activity and repression, especially during development. It also has shed light on a range of diseases, including both rare genetic disorders and common diseases. This article is being published to celebrate Solter and Surani receiving a 2018 Canada Gairdner International Award "for the discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting that causes parent-of-origin specific gene expression and its consequences for development and disease".

Imprinted genes in development, epigenetics and disease

In 1984, Davor Solter (working with James McGrath at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia) and, independently, Azim Surani (working with Sheila Barton and Michael Norris at the AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology in Cambridge) published the results of experiments on newly fertilized mouse eggs (McGrath and Solter, 1984; Surani et al., 1984; Barton et al., 1984). They had generated embryos that contained either two sets of chromosomes inherited from the mother, or two sets of chromosomes inherited from the father. However, when transferred into pseudo-pregnant recipient females, the embryos failed to develop to term.

These remarkable results sent a clear message: despite being genetically equivalent, the set of chromosomes inherited from the mother were not functionally equivalent to the set inherited from the father. The defective development of the bi-maternal and the bi-paternal embryos indicated that, for normal development to occur, one set of chromosomes from each parent was required. This is due to a process called 'genomic imprinting' which acts in the gametes to 'mark' genes on the maternal and paternal chromosomes in order to ensure parent-of-origin specific expression after fertilization. All cells contain two copies of every gene (except those genes found on the si

King’s Fellow Professor Azim Surani FRS has just been awarded the prestigious McEwen Award for Innovation 2014.

The McEwen Award is given by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), and recognises original thinking and groundbreaking research into stem cells or regenerative medicine.

Stem cells are unspecialised cells that can renew themselves through cell division, or divide and become a specialised cell, like a brain cell or a muscle cell.

Professor Surani studies mammalian germ cells, which are the precursors of egg and sperm cells. Upon fertilisation, they generate a cell that is called ‘totipotent’, which means they can give rise to embryonic stem cells. The embryonic stem cells divide and become any of the types of cell needed to form a new organism.

Surani has started to uncover how these germ cells are created, what makes them totipotent, and how any cell can be changed into a totipotent cell.

His work has involved studying the epigenome, which are chemical modifications associated with genes that can alter how and which of your genes are expressed or shut down. He has uncovered the molecular mechanisms that reprogramme the epigenome to make cells totipotent.

via Azim Surani wins the 2014 McEwen Award | King’s College, Cambridge.

http://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/news-events/news/surani-mcewen-award-for-innovation

http://www.isscr.org/home/about-us/news-press-releases/2013/2014/01/14/2014-awards-recipients

http://www.isscr.org/home/awards/mcewen-award-for-innovation

Earlier: Queen’s Honours for Cambridge academics – Professor Azim Surani

Key Messages

• Professor Azim Surani worked at the Babraham Institute between 1979 and 1991
• His work led to the discovery of genomic imprinting in the 1980s. Imprinting was a key discovery in early epigenetics research, which is now a global undertaking. The Babraham Institute continues to be a world-leader in epigenetics.
• Imprinting means that genes inherited from each parent can behave differently in a developing embryo. It is vital for healthy development in a wide range of species.

Research performed at the Institute in the 1980s by Professor Azim Surani has been recognised with one of Canada’s highest research accolades. The Canada Gairdner International Award celebrates transformative contributions to research that impact human health.

The 2018 award will be jointly presented to Professor Surani and to Davor Solter, of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, “for their discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting that causes parent-of-origin specific gene expression and its consequences for development and disease”. Their findings, published in 1984, were the first to show that the genetic information we inherit from our parents retains a ‘memory’ of whether it comes from our mother or our father.

We now know that imprinting has many effects on healthy development, affecting embryo growth, placenta formation, nutrient supply and neuronal development. It can even impact behaviours later in life. Errors in imprinting can also contribute to a wide array of human medical conditions from obesity to cancer.

Professor Surani relocated to the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute in 1991, where he is now Director of Germline and Epigenetic Research. The discoveries he made here at the Babraham Institute laid the groundwork for further investigations into gene regulation and contributed to the development of the field of epigenetics, which is still a key resea

Azim Surani interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 19th June 2009

0:09:07 Born in a small town called KisumuKisumu was one of the key towns in western Kenya which could explain why it had this library; there was a Provincial Commissioner located in the area and the railway from Kisumu went to Nairobi and Mombasa; it was also a trading port on Lake Victoria and an administrative centre; I think my father could have become a successful academic if he had had the opportunity to go to university; his pleasure was reading; my mother looked after us; I have two brothers, an older and younger and a younger sister who was adopted; my mother was the eldest child in her family and when her father died her mother took various jobs to keep them, leaving my mother with the care of the family; I was quite close to her; she had married when about seventeen or eighteen, and my older brother was born about a year later, so she spent most of her life looking after people

9:32:20 I belong to a community that are the followers of the Aga Khan, Ismaili Muslims, though I am not a practicing believer any more; both my parents came from this community; the Aga Khan had established some schools in Kenya at that time; I started at the Aga Khan Primary School in Kisumu which was quite good; at eight or nine I went to Kisumu Primary School which was attended by Asians mainly; at about thirteen I went to Kisumu High School and I did my Cambridge ‘O’ levels there; I don’t remember any teachers being particularly influential at primary school; at secondary school I do remember some of them and they had a big part to play in what happened to me subsequently; there were no scientists in my immediate or extended family so there was nothing in my background that led me to think about science; most of the time when thinking about a profession, it was medicine or law; I do remember being generally interested in plants and animals; I remember a small laboratory where I think they were doing research on m