Leading Plant Scientist Dies
The scientific world has been shocked by the sudden death of leading plant scientist Professor Chris Lamb.
Professor Lamb died aged 59 from heart failure on August 21st. He was one of the leading biochemists of his generation, director of the John Innes Centre in Norwich, regius professor of plant science at Edinburgh University, and director of the plant biology laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
Professor Lamb’s research aimed to understand how plants defended themselves against myriad pathogens and he was in the middle of championing the development of new generations of crop plants for sustainable food production when he died.
Born in York, the biochemist studied at Cambridge University and later became a research fellow at the Queen’s College, Oxford before moving to the Salk Institute in 1982 to set up a plant research programme.
During his 17 years in California, Professor Lamb established one of the most highly regarded and visible programmes in plant biology. The Salk Plant lab expanded under his guidance and now has 16 laboratories across three institutions. He was a proponent of genetic modification where it could provide solutions to food production, and he also wanted to persuade society of the value of science when it came to the challenge of providing sufficient food.
As director of the John Innes Centre he helped develop substantial programmes for promoting science education and providing opportunities for training the next generation of young scientists.
Friend Mike Bevan commented, “Chris’s intellect, skill and dedication are reflected in his scientific record, his institutional legacy and in the large number of scientists and students whom he trained, encouraged and supported. His legacy is very broad and its significance is sure to grow as we face up to the important challenges to which he devoted his energy and effort, namely, feeding a growing population, developing renewable biofuels and decreasing the impact of agriculture on the environment.”