Click here
The flowering scholar
Caroline Dean is a plant biologist, born in the
United Kingdom in 1957.
Her current research focuses on the molecular
controls used by plants to determine when they
should flower. Caroline found genetic sequences in plants that determine whether it is time
to flower, and their ability to respond to prolonged cold by flowering. This process is called
“vernalization”.
Dean has made valuable contributions to the
study of plants' developmental rhythms. Her
work has revealed the mechanism by which
plants” remember” they have lived through
winter. She has also demonstrated the existence of novel RNA-processing mechanisms
that control flowering, and determined the
molecular basis of flowering in the plant Arabidopsis.
In addition, her research addresses fundamental issues related to the perception of temperature signals, and the way in which changes in
epigenetic mechanisms play a fundamental
role in adaptation.
Caroline is projects Director at the
John Innes Centre since 1988.
She has been appointed Dame Commander of the
order of the British Empire and member of the
Royal Society. She has also received the EMBO
Women In Science Award and in 2008 was elected a member of the National Academy of Science
of the United States.