Professor Azim Surani stands as a preeminent developmental biologist whose pioneering work has reshaped our understanding of mammalian development and epigenetic regulation. He currently holds the position of Director of Germline and Epigenomics Research at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, where he has served as Marshall-Walton Professor since 1992. Born in 1945 in Kisumu, Kenya, Surani received his PhD in 1975 from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Robert Edwards. He established his independent research career at the Babraham Institute in 1979, where his early investigations into embryonic development began to take shape. His decades-long tenure at Cambridge has cemented his reputation as a central figure in the international developmental biology community.
Surani's most seminal contribution to science was the co-discovery of mammalian genomic imprinting with Davor Solter in 1984, a finding that fundamentally altered our understanding of genetic inheritance beyond the classical Mendelian framework. This groundbreaking work demonstrated that both paternal and maternal genomes carry specific epigenetic 'imprints' that confer functional differences during development, establishing the foundational principle of genomic imprinting. His subsequent research elucidated the mechanisms of this process, including the establishment and erasure of DNA methylation patterns that govern parent-specific gene expression. This pioneering discovery not only spawned the modern field of epigenetics but also provided critical insights into human developmental disorders and the molecular basis of embryonic development.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Professor Surani has continued to advance the frontiers of developmental biology by establishing the genetic basis for germ cell specification and epigenetic reprogramming, with his laboratory pioneering single-cell analyses in mice. His recent work extends these investigations to human systems, revealing important differences between human and mouse development attributable to divergent pluripotent states. Recognized with numerous prestigious honors, Azim Surani was awarded the 2025 Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences for his discovery of genomic imprinting in mammals while serving as Director of Research at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge and the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize. Surani's research continues to explore transposable elements, host defense mechanisms, noncoding RNAs, and the potential for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals. His ongoing studies promise to illuminate fundamental mechanisms of development while offering potential applications for understanding and treating human disease.
