Turi King | |
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Born | Turi Emma King [1] 31 December 1969 [1] Nottingham, England |
Nationality | Canadian[ citation needed ] British |
Alma mater |
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Known for |
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Awards | Haldane Lecture (2018) [3] |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Genetics Archaeology History Forensics Genetic genealogy Surnames [4] |
Institutions | University of Leicester |
Thesis | The relationship between British surnames and Y-chromosomal haplotypes (2008) |
Academic advisors | Alec Jeffreys [5] |
Website | www |
Turi Emma King (born 31 December 1969) [1] is a Canadian-British professor of Public Engagement and Genetics at the University of Leicester. In 2012, King led the DNA verification during the exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England. [2] She is also known for featuring with Stacey Dooley on the BBC Two genealogy series, DNA Family Secrets . [6] [7] She is currently the Director of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath. [8]
King was born in Nottingham, England, as the eldest of three children born to Alan King, an engineer, and Daphne King, a housewife. [9] King is named after Norwegian aviator Turi Widerøe, the first woman to fly for a Western airline. [10]
She moved to Canada at an early age and was brought up in Vancouver, British Columbia. She studied at the University of British Columbia and worked on archaeological sites in Canada, Greece, and England, [11] before moving to Jesus College, Cambridge [9] to read Archaeology and Anthropology. [12] There she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. [13] She won a scholarship to study for a Master of Science degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Leicester, gaining a First with Distinction. [14]
In 2000, she started her doctoral research as a Wellcome Trust Prize Student at the University of Leicester, specialising in genetic genealogy and "in tracing migration patterns by using genetics." [9] Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, the inventor of DNA fingerprinting, was on her PhD supervisory panel. [15]
Her thesis on the relationship between British surnames and Y-chromosomal haplotypes [16] [17] was published in 2007, and eventually formed the basis of the book Surnames, DNA and Family History, which she co-authored with David Hey and George Redmonds. [18] [4] [19]
King's research initially centered around genetics, genetic genealogy, forensics, and surnames, and using aspects of human DNA such as the Y chromosome to track past human migrations. [11] [20] [21] Her work has included tracing "the signal of the Viking migration to the north of England", resulting in her appearance in Michael Wood's The Great British Story – A People's History on BBC Two, [17] and in Michael Wood's Story of England . [22]
In 2012, she led the genetic analysis and verification during the exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England. [23] She was able to use the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from direct living descendants of Richard III's sister, Anne of York, one of whom (Michael Ibsen) was traced by British historian John Ashdown-Hill, with a second relative (Wendy Duldig) traced by the University of Leicester team. [24] [25] [23] [26]
In March 2021, she presented the BBC Radio 4 documentary "Genetics and the longer arm of the law". [27]
As Professor of Public Engagement, King regularly undertakes public speaking at universities, [28] schools and public events such as the Cheltenham Science Festival, [29] the Moscow Science Festival, [30] a Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill, [31] the Galway Science and Technology Festival, [32] and the Queen's Lecture in Berlin. [33] She guest-presented the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures in Japan in 2019 stepping in for Alice Roberts. [34] [35]
She advises on numerous television programmes and provides genetic expertise to authors such as Patricia Cornwell, [36] [37] Philippe Sands, [38] Edward Glover, and David McKie. [39]
King has also appeared in a number of television and radio documentaries as an expert in genetic genealogy, forensics, and/or ancient DNA. [40] [41] [42] [43]
The following is a list of projects King is either heading or has been involved with:
King has appeared in numerous television and radio documentaries, programmes and videos as well as advising on television and radio productions such as BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? [47]
DNA Family Secrets is a television series which began airing on BBC Two in March 2021, [6] presented by Stacey Dooley and King, it uses current DNA technology to solve family mysteries around ancestry, missing relatives and genetic disease. Series three aired in 2023. [55]
In 2016, King was appointed an honorary fellow of the British Science Association in recognition of her contribution to public engagement in science. [56] She gave the J. B. S. Haldane prize lecture of The Genetics Society in 2018, at the Royal Institution, London. [3] She was the president of the Adelphi Genetics Forum for two years, as announced in the Galton Review. [57]
King is married. [58]
Richard III was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field marked the end of the Middle Ages in England.
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, 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.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Martin, Leicester, commonly known as Leicester Cathedral, is a Church of England cathedral in Leicester, England and the seat of the Bishop of Leicester. The church was elevated to a collegiate church in 1922 and made a cathedral in 1927 following the establishment of a new Diocese of Leicester in 1926.
The University of Leicester is a public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, University College, Leicester, gained university status in 1957.
Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests, i.e., DNA profiling and DNA testing, in combination with traditional genealogical methods, to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be used by family historians in the 21st century, as DNA tests became affordable. The tests have been promoted by amateur groups, such as surname study groups or regional genealogical groups, as well as research projects such as the Genographic Project.
The Genographic Project, launched on 13 April 2005 by the National Geographic Society and IBM, was a genetic anthropological study that aimed to map historical human migrations patterns by collecting and analyzing DNA samples. The final phase of the project was Geno 2.0 Next Generation. Upon retirement of the site, 1,006,542 participants in over 140 countries had joined the project.
Haplogroup G (M201) is a human Y-chromosome haplogroup. It is one of two branches of the parent haplogroup GHIJK, the other being HIJK.
Haplogroup J is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. The clade derives from the haplogroup JT, which also gave rise to haplogroup T. Within the field of medical genetics, certain polymorphisms specific to haplogroup J have been associated with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.
In human genetics, a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by mutations in the non-recombining portions of DNA from the male-specific Y chromosome. Many people within a haplogroup share similar numbers of short tandem repeats (STRs) and types of mutations called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
Mary-Claire King is an American geneticist. She was the first to show that breast cancer can be inherited due to mutations in the gene she called BRCA1. She studies human genetics and is particularly interested in genetic heterogeneity and complex traits. She studies the interaction of genetics and environmental influences and their effects on human conditions such as breast and ovarian cancer, inherited deafness, schizophrenia, HIV, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. She has been the American Cancer Society Professor of the Department of Genome Sciences and of Medical Genetics in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington since 1995.
The genetic history of the British Isles is the subject of research within the larger field of human population genetics. It has developed in parallel with DNA testing technologies capable of identifying genetic similarities and differences between both modern and ancient populations. The conclusions of population genetics regarding the British Isles in turn draw upon and contribute to the larger field of understanding the history of the human occupation of the area, complementing work in linguistics, archaeology, history and genealogy.
In genetics, a non-paternity event is the situation in which someone who is presumed to be an individual's father is not in fact the biological father. This presumption of NPE is a subset of a misattributed parentage experience (MPE) which may be on the part of the individual, the parents, or the attending midwife, physician or nurse. An NPE may result from sperm donation, undisclosed adoption, heteropaternal superfecundation, promiscuity, paternity fraud, or sexual assault, as well as medical mistakes, for example, mixups during procedures such as in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination. Where there is uncertainty, the most reliable technique for establishing paternity is genetic testing; however, there is still a risk of error due to the potential for gene mutations or scoring errors.
Stephen E. Harding is a British biochemist specialising in biomolecular hydrodynamics. Harding is currently Professor of Applied Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham, has been the Director of the National Centre of Macromolecular Hydrodynamics since its foundation in 1987 and is a member of the Centre for the Study of the Viking Age.
The remains of Richard III, the last English king killed in battle and last king of the House of York, were discovered within the site of the former Grey Friars Priory in Leicester, England, in September 2012. Following extensive anthropological and genetic testing, the remains were reinterred at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Louis John Frederick Ashdown-Hill MBE FSA, commonly known as John Ashdown-Hill, was an independent historian and author of books on late medieval English history with a focus on the House of York and Richard III of England. Ashdown-Hill died on 18 May 2018; he had had motor neurone disease for some time.
Haplogroup R-M269 is the sub-clade of human Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b that is defined by the SNP marker M269. According to ISOGG 2020 it is phylogenetically classified as R1b1a1b. It underwent intensive research and was previously classified as R1b1a2, R1b1c, R1b1b2 and R1b1a1a2.
Who We Are and How We Got Here is a 2018 book on the contribution of genome-wide ancient DNA research to human population genetics by the geneticist David Reich. He describes discoveries made by his group and others, based on analysis and comparison of ancient and modern DNA from human populations around the world. Central to these is the finding that almost all human populations are mixtures resulting from multiple population migrations and gene flow.
DNA Family Secrets is a British television series which began airing on BBC Two in March 2021. The programme is presented by Stacey Dooley and geneticist, Professor Turi King, and uses the latest DNA technology to solve family mysteries around ancestry, missing relatives and genetic disease. The second series began airing on 11 May 2022.
The Lost King is a 2022 British biographical film directed by Stephen Frears. Written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, it is based on the 2013 book The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. It is a dramatisation of the story of Philippa Langley, the woman who initiated the search to find King Richard III's remains under a car park in Leicester, and her treatment by the University of Leicester in the claiming of credit for the discovery. Coogan and Harry Lloyd also feature in the cast.