Robin Holliday

Robin Holliday studied at University of Cambridge and Hitchin Boys' School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is molecular biology and genetics. Employment is recorded with National Institute for Medical Research. Distinctions recorded are Lord Cohen Medal, Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Medal and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

• Name — Robin Holliday • Born — 6 November 1932 • Died — 9 April 2014 • Education — Cambridge University (BA, PhD) • Known for — Holliday junction • Occupation — Molecular biologist

Holliday held a B.A. in Natural Sciences and a PhD in genetics from Cambridge University. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow Australian Academy of Science (FAA), a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, and held the 1987 Lord Cohen Medal for Gerontological research. He was formerly the Head of the Genetics Division, National Institute for Medical Research, (Medical Research Council), Mill Hill, London, UK, and prior to his death was a retired Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of BioMolecular Engineering, Sydney, Australia.

In 1975 he suggested that DNA methylation could be an important mechanism for the control of gene expression in higher organisms, and this has now become documented as a basic epigenetic mechanism in normal and also cancer cells. In 1988 he moved to a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO laboratory in Sydney, Australia, where he continued to study ageing, and his book Understanding Ageing was published in 1995. He was a biogerontologist and mentored several successful biogerontologists, including Suresh Rattan, editor-in-chief of the journal Biogerontology. The main focus of his experimental work was the epigenetic control of gene expression by DNA methylation in CHO cells. These experiments provide direct evidence that DNA methylation is a primary cause of gene silencing in mammalian cells.

Robin Holliday worked in molecular biology and genetics. He was employed by National Institute for Medical Research. He belonged to European Molecular Biology Organization, Royal Society, Australian Academy of Science and Indian National Science Academy.