Michael Bevan is a plant biologist and crop scientist who has played a major role in plant genetic research. He made important contributions to developing plant transformation and gene expression methods, and has sequenced important plant genomes, including Arabidopsis thaliana, a key model organism. He was the first to produce a draft of the large and complex genome of wheat, which he is now improving.

An important aim of Michael’s research is to understand how growth is regulated in plants using Arabidopsis. He has successfully identified several important regulatory genes and mechanisms and is working with industry to assess whether they can alter seed size in crops such as oilseed rape and wheat.

Michael is now furthering his research to understand how gene expression in wheat is affected by inherited cellular traits that are not related to DNA. He is the author of over 150 journal articles and is a past winner of the Rank Fund Prize and the Kumho Award for his research into plant genetics. He was elected to EMBO in 2000.