The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has announced John Sutherland, Group Leader in the LMB’s PNAC Division, as the 2025 recipient of the Award in Early Earth and Life Sciences – Stanley Miller Medal. The NAS awards the Stanley Miller Medal in recognition of pioneering research on the early, planetary development of Earth. John is recognised for his work on prebiotic chemical pathways and geochemical scenarios, which offer new insights into the synthesis of the early biological building blocks of life.
John’s group is interested in understanding the chemical origins of the core tenets of biological life; cellular format, the central dogma, and the genetic code. As the foundation of life on Earth, an advanced understanding of these chemical events will progress a true understanding of biology and may also be used to help inform the design of novel, synthetic biologies.
John studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford and then held a position as a Kennedy Scholar working with Jeremy Knowles at Harvard University, US. He completed doctoral work with Jack Baldwin at the University of Oxford, where he then took up a Junior Research Fellowship and latterly a lectureship in Organic Chemistry. He became a Chair in Biological Chemistry at the University of Manchester, before joining the LMB as a Group Leader in 2010.
John’s research has previously been recognised by the Darwin Medal from the Royal Society, the Tilden Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry and election to Royal Society Fellowship.
Further references
John’s group page
National Academy of Sciences Award in Early Earth and Life Sciences