Allan Wilson (biologist)

Allan Wilson
Allan C. Wilson (courtesy of the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution)
Born	Allan Charles Wilson (1934-10-18)18 October 1934 Ngāruawāhia, New Zealand
Died	21 July 1991(1991-07-21) (aged 56) Seattle, United States
Citizenship	New Zealand
Alma mater	University of Otago (B.Sc.) Washington State University (M.S.) University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.)
Known for	Molecular clock Mitochondrial Eve
Awards	MacArthur Fellowship ForMemRS
Scientific career
Fields	Zoology Biochemistry
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley
Thesis	Control of flavin synthesis by bacteria  (1961)
Doctoral advisor	Arthur Pardee
Other academic advisors	Nathan O. Kaplan
Notable students	Svante Pääbo Mary-Claire King Vincent Sarich Rebecca L. Cann Mark Stoneking

Allan Charles Wilson FRS AAA&S (18 October 1934 – 21 July 1991) was a professor of biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, a pioneer in the use of molecular approaches to understand evolutionary change and reconstruct phylogenies, and a revolutionary contributor to the study of human evolution. He was one of the most significant figures in post-war biology; his work attracted a great deal of attention both from within and outside the academic world. He is the only New Zealander to have won the MacArthur Fellowship.^[1]

He is best known for experimental demonstration of the concept of the molecular clock (with his doctoral student Vincent Sarich), which was theoretically postulated by Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkandl, revolutionary insights into the nature of the molecular anthropology of higher primates and human evolution, and the so-called Mitochondrial Eve hypothesis (with his doctoral students Rebecca L. Cann and Mark Stoneking).^[2][3]