Jun 08, 2011
James Lake awarded prestigious Darwin Wallace Medal
James A. Lake, UCLA Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and Human Genetics, was awarded the Darwin Wallace Medal for major research advances in evolutionary biology. He received the award on May 24 at the anniversary meeting of the Linnean Society of London.
Lake’s pioneering research has led to fundamental discoveries concerning protein synthesis and the evolution of life. He discovered the first exclusively prokaryote endosymbiosis, which he reported in the journal Nature in 2009. Humans might not be walking the face of the Earth were it not for the ancient fusing of two prokaryotes — tiny life forms that do not have a cellular nucleus. Endosymbiosis refers to a cell living within another cell. If the cells live together long enough, they will exchange genes; they merge but often keep their own cell membranes and sometimes their own genomes. All other known endosymbioses have involved a eukaryote — a cell that contains a nucleus.
The citation for the Darwin Wallace Medal reads in part: "Professor James A. Lake has made a number of highly significant contributions toward understanding diverse aspects of genome evolution across all kingdoms of life. These include discovering informational and operational genes, developing the complexity hypothesis for horizontal/lateral gene transfer, and rooting the "tree of life," topics on which he has published over 160 papers. The award most specifically recognizes Professor Lake’s seminal contributions to elucidating the New Animal Phylogeny."
Professor Lake’s "early ideas are broadly accepted and have led to a radically new view of bilateral animal evolution, profoundly stimulating studies into the early evolution of bilateral animals," the citation notes. "The result has been a revolution in our understanding of animal evolution and Professor Lake’s pioneering studies laid the foundations for the ‘New Animal Phylogeny,’ a seminal contribution to advancing the study of evolution."
The Linnean Society of London, founded in 1788, is the world’s oldest active biological society. Founded in 1788, the society takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) whose botanical, zoological and library collections have been in its collection since 1829. The medal, named for Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, initially had been awarded only every 50 years, but is now awarded annually.
In 2005, Lake was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, based on scientific achievements and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.
