The scientist with an affection for snails and no tolerance for pedlars of creationism

Published on Monday 6 October 2008 21:44

PROFESSOR Steve Jones is one of Britain's best-known scientists and a leading authority in the field of genetics.

Born in Aberystwyth, Wales, and raised in Liverpool, he studied zoology at Edinburgh University before continuing his studies at the University of Chicago.

Much of his formative work was concerned with snails, and how their anatomy can shed new light on biodiversity and genetics. He boasts of having collected hundreds of thousands of specimens from around Europe and keeps many in his London office.

A critic of creationism , which he describes as "the triumph of ignorance", his scientific theories have made him enemies in some circles, and he has received abuse and even death threats as a result of his research.

Prof Jones suggested in a radio interview two years ago that creationists should not be allowed to become medical doctors, as "all of (creationism's] claims fly in the face of the whole of science". He also insisted that no serious biologist could believe in biblical creation. Although he has spent most of his career at UCL, he has also had visiting posts at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, the University of California at Davis, the University of Botswana, Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone and Flinders University in Adelaide. He was awarded the Royal Society Faraday Medal for public understanding of science in 1997, the BP Natural World Book Prize in 2000 and the Institute of Biology Charter Medal in 2002. He is also president of the Galton Institute.

The 64-year-old combines his academic work with a high-profile broadcasting career, appearing on programmes such as Newsnight and Question Time.