- 2011 Wolf Prize in Agriculture
Intro
American biologist, chairperson of the working group for the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP). He was awarded the 2011 Wolf Prize in Agriculture for highly significant discoveries, which contribute to both fundamental and practical aspects of animal agriculture.
Education and Work Experience
1984, Ph.D. in Immunology, UC Davis
2011-2016, Vice Chancellor for Research, UC Davis
2015-Present, Chairperson, Earth BioGenome Project
2016-Present, Distinguished Professor of Evolution and Ecology and Distinguished Professor of Population Health and Reproduction, UC Davis
Honors and Awards
2004, Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science
2007, Foreign Member of Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
2011, Wolf Prize in Agriculture
2013, Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Major Academic Achievements
The research conducted by Prof. Harris A. Lewin is of great importance for present and future animal agriculture. Prof. Lewin has made a number of discoveries in the field of immunogenetics and disease and comparative and functional genomics and is considered a major founder in the field of functional genomics. His work includes
mapping Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), affecting production traits in cattle. In 2018, Lewin announced a landmark partnership between the Earth BioGenome Project and the Earth Bank of Codes to map the DNA of all the planet’s eukaryotes, some 1.5 million known species. The EBP project will provide new tools for the conservation, preservation and regeneration of biodiversity, enable the development of new drugs for infections and diseases, spur creation of new biological fuels and bio-materials.