Ashburner, Michael (1942– )

English geneticist and one of the world's leading authorities on the genetics of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. His work has advanced the study of genes involved in the development of living organisms, including the human body, since many of the Drosophila genes are also present and play a similar part in human cells.

He is known for his detailed studies of the structure and function of genes. In his studies he chose to use ‘heat shock genes’ (genes that are activated by increased temperature) in Drosophila, as a model for gene regulation. He also cloned many genes involved in the inheritance of interesting characteristics of Drosophila flies.

Ashburner studied at Cambridge University in the 1960s and went on to join the staff. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990 in recognition of his contribution to the field of genetics. In 1991 he became professor of biology at Cambridge.