2001 - HONORARY PhD IN BIOETHICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Prof. Dr. Brian F.C. Clark
Professor
Brian
F.C.
Clark
has
made
important
contributions
in
the
field
of
molecular
biology.
He
was
the
first
scientist
to
crystallize
tRNA
and
collaborated
in
the
work
of
Crick
&
Brenner.
He
is
Professor
of
Molecular
Biology
at
the
University
of
Aarhus
and
works
in
the
Danish
Genome
Project.
Professor
Clark
has
been
awarded
the
Honorary
PhD
in
recognition
of
his
outstanding
work
in
Molecular
Biology,
but
especially
for
his
respect
for
Bioethics
and
Human
Rights.
He
is
a
member
of
several
international
organisations
founded
in
defence
of
Human
Rights
as
recognised
in
the
United
Nations
Charter.
The
presentation
of
the
award
took
place
in
the
Grand
Assembly
Hall
of
the
Madrid
College
of
Doctors
on
Thursday
13th
December
at
20:00.
Short
Biography
Professor
Clark
counts
among
his
scientific
achievements
the
discovery
of
the
initiation
codon
for
protein
synthesis
and
hence
the
start
of
protein
coding
(1965-66);
the
first
crystallisation
of
tRNA
(1968);
the
determination
of
the
first
structure
of
a
GTP-binding
protein
(1985);
and
the
structural
determination
of
the
ternary
complex
(1995).
Professor
Clark
was
born
on
July
26,
1936
in
Milford
Haven,
Wales,
UK.
He
obtained
his
undergraduate
and
graduate
degrees
in
organic
chemistry
from
Cambridge
University.
His
principal
areas
of
research
are
protein
engineering
of
factors
involved
in
protein
synthesis
and
the
explanation
of
function
in
terms
of
3d
structure
from
X-ray
crystallography;
Macromolecular
mimicry
and
molecular
mechanism
of
protein
syntheses;
Molecular
and
cellular
mechanism
of
ageing;
The
use
of
phage
display
to
identify
differential
cellular
gene
expression
and
to
characterise
mutant
proteins;
and
Molecular
mechanism
of
disease
including
cancer
and
age-related
diseases.
From
1964
to
1974
he
was
a
member
of
the
Scientific
Staff
at
the
Medical
Research
Council,
Laboratory
of
Molecular
Biology,
Cambridge,
and
a
Member
of
Division
of
Cell
Biology
under
the
direction
of
Francis
Crick
&
Sydney
Brenner.
He
is
a
foreign
member
of
the
Royal
Danish
Academy
of
Sciences
and
Letters;
Member
of
the
Danish
Academy
of
Natural
Sciences;
Honorary
Member
of
the
Hellenic
Biochemical
and
Biophysical
Society;
and
received
an
Honorary
Doctorate
from
the
Engelhardt
Institute
of
Molecular
Biology,
Moscow.