Alec John Jeffreys
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, CH FRS MAE (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolve paternity and immigration disputes.
Jeffreys is professor of genetics at the University of Leicester, and became an honorary freeman of the City of Leicester on 26 November 1992. In 1994, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to genetics.
Jeffreys says he had a "eureka moment" in his lab in Leicester after looking at the X-ray film image of a DNA experiment on 10 September 1984, which unexpectedly showed both similarities and differences between the DNA of different members of his technician's family. Within about half an hour, he continued, he realised the possible scope of DNA fingerprinting, which uses variations in the genetic information to identify individuals. The method has become important in forensic science to assist police detective work, and it has also proved useful in resolving paternity and immigration disputes.
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