Christopher Paul Ponting is a British computational biologist, specializing in the evolution and function of genes and genomes. He is currently Chair of Medical Bioinformatics at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the MRC Human Genetics Unit. He is also an Associate Faculty member of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[2] His research focuses on long noncoding RNA function and evolution, on single cell biology and on disease genomics.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Outside of science, Chris is an amateur novelist and wrote an unpublished, science fiction novel about engineered viruses.[9]
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After receiving his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in physics from University of Oxford and the University of British Columbia, respectively, he returned to Oxford, completing his Doctor of Philosophy in biophysics in 1992 on structural studies of plasminogen.[10][11]
Ponting contributed to the Human Genome Project,[12] and participated in sequence comparison for the mouse,[13] rat,[14] chicken,[15] dog,[16] opossum,[17] and platypus[18][19][20] Genome Projects. He has also used comparative genomics to contribute directly to the understanding of chromatin structure[21] and the genetics of numerous conditions including asthma,[22] obesity,[23] Alzheimer's disease,[24] retinitis pigmentosa,[25] muscular dystrophies,[26] and Aicardi–Goutières syndrome.[27]
Additionally, his lab is part of DecodeME, a genetic study to determine the potential causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).[28][9]
Gibbs, R. A.; Weinstock, G. M.; Metzker, M. L.; Muzny, D. M.; Sodergren, E. J.; Scherer, S; Scott, G; Steffen, D; Worley, K. C.; Burch, P. E.; Okwuonu, G; Hines, S; Lewis, L; Deramo, C; Delgado, O; Dugan-Rocha, S; Miner, G; Morgan, M; Hawes, A; Gill, R; Celera; Holt, R. A.; Adams, M. D.; Amanatides, P. G.; Baden-Tillson, H; Barnstead, M; Chin, S; Evans, C. A.; Ferriera, S; et al. (2004). "Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution". Nature. 428 (6982): 493–521. Bibcode:2004Natur.428..493G. doi:10.1038/nature02426. PMID 15057822. Drosophila 12 Genomes, Consortium; Clark, A. G.; Eisen, M. B.; Smith, D. R.; Bergman, C. M.; Oliver, B; Markow, T. A.; Kaufman, T. C.; Kellis, M; Gelbart, W; Iyer, V. N.; Pollard, D. A.; Sackton, T. B.; Larracuente, A. M.; Singh, N. D.; Abad, J. P.; Abt, D. N.; Adryan, B; Aguade, M; Akashi, H; Anderson, W. W.; Aquadro, C. F.; Ardell, D. H.; Arguello, R; Artieri, C. G.; Barbash, D. A.; Barker, D; Barsanti, P; Batterham, P; et al. (2007). "Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny". Nature. 450 (7167): 203–18. Bibcode:2007Natur.450..203C. doi:10.1038/nature06341. PMID 17994087.{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Mulder, N. J.; Apweiler, R; Attwood, T. K.; Bairoch, A; Barrell, D; Bateman, A; Binns, D; Biswas, M; Bradley, P; Bork, P; Bucher, P; Copley, R. R.; Courcelle, E; Das, U; Durbin, R; Falquet, L; Fleischmann, W; Griffiths-Jones, S; Haft, D; Harte, N; Hulo, N; Kahn, D; Kanapin, A; Krestyaninova, M; Lopez, R; Letunic, I; Lonsdale, D; Silventoinen, V.; Orchard, S. E.; Pagni, M.; Pagni, Marco; Peyruc, D.; Ponting, C.P.; Selengut, J.D.; Servant, F.; Sigrist, C.J.A.; Vaughan, R.; Zdobnov, E.M. (2003). "The InterPro Database, 2003 brings increased coverage and new features". Nucleic Acids Research. 31 (1): 315–8. doi:10.1093/nar/gkg046. PMC 165493. PMID 12520011. Lander, E. S.; Linton, M.; Birren, B.; Nusbaum, C.; Zody, C.; Baldwin, J.; Devon, K.; Dewar, K.; Doyle, M.; Fitzhugh, W.; Funke, R.; Gage, D.; Harris, K.; Heaford, A.; Howland, J.; Kann, L.; Lehoczky, J.; Levine, R.; McEwan, P.; McKernan, K.; Meldrim, J.; Mesirov, J. P.; Miranda, C.; Morris, W.; Naylor, J.; Raymond, C.; Rosetti, M.; Santos, R.; Sheridan, A.; et al. (February 2001). "Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome". Nature. 409 (6822): 860–921. Bibcode:2001Natur.409..860L. doi:10.1038/35057062. hdl:2027.42/62798. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11237011. Chinwalla, A. T.; Waterston, L. L.; Lindblad-Toh, K. D.; Birney, G. A.; Rogers, L. A.; Abril, R. S.; Agarwal, T. A.; Agarwala, L. W.; Ainscough, E. R.; Alexandersson, J. D.; An, T. L.; Antonarakis, W. E.; Attwood, J. O.; Baertsch, M. N.; Bailey, K. H.; Barlow, C. S.; Beck, T. C.; Berry, B.; Birren, J.; Bloom, E.; Bork, R. H.; Botcherby, M. C.; Bray, R. K.; Brent, S. P.; Brown, P.; Brown, E.; Bult, B.; Burton, T.; Butler, D. G.; et al. (2002). "Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome". Nature. 420 (6915): 520–562. Bibcode:2002Natur.420..520W. doi:10.1038/nature01262. PMID 12466850. Lindblad-Toh, K.; Wade, C. M.; Mikkelsen, T. S.; Karlsson, E. K.; Jaffe, D. B.; Kamal, M.; Clamp, M.; Chang, J. L.; Kulbokas, E. J.; Zody, M. C.; Mauceli, E.; Xie, X.; Breen, M.; Wayne, R. K.; Ostrander, E. A.; Ponting, C. P.; Galibert, F.; Smith, D. R.; Dejong, P. J.; Kirkness, E.; Alvarez, P.; Biagi, T.; Brockman, W.; Butler, J.; Chin, C. W.; Cook, A.; Cuff, J.; Daly, M. J.; Decaprio, D.; et al. (2005). "Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog". Nature. 438 (7069): 803–819. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..803L. doi:10.1038/nature04338. PMID 16341006. Mikkelsen, T. S.; Wakefield, M. J.; Aken, B.; Amemiya, C. T.; Chang, J. L.; Duke, S.; Garber, M.; Gentles, A. J.; Goodstadt, L.; Heger, A.; Jurka, J.; Kamal, M.; Mauceli, E.; Searle, S. M. J.; Sharpe, T.; Baker, M. L.; Batzer, M. A.; Benos, P. V.; Belov, K.; Clamp, M.; Cook, A.; Cuff, J.; Das, R.; Davidow, L.; Deakin, J. E.; Fazzari, M. J.; Glass, J. L.; Grabherr, M.; Greally, J. M.; et al. (2007). "Genome of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica reveals innovation in non-coding sequences". Nature. 447 (7141): 167–177. Bibcode:2007Natur.447..167M. doi:10.1038/nature05805. PMID 17495919. Warren, W. C.; Hillier, L. W.; Marshall Graves, J. A.; Birney, E.; Ponting, C. P.; Grützner, F.; Belov, K.; Miller, W.; Clarke, L.; Chinwalla, A. T.; Yang, S. P.; Heger, A.; Locke, D. P.; Miethke, P.; Waters, P. D.; Veyrunes, F. D. R.; Fulton, L.; Fulton, B.; Graves, T.; Wallis, J.; Puente, X. S.; López-Otín, C.; Ordóñez, G. R.; Eichler, E. E.; Chen, L.; Cheng, Z.; Deakin, J. E.; Alsop, A.; Thompson, K.; et al. (2008). "Genome analysis of the platypus reveals unique signatures of evolution". Nature. 453 (7192): 175–183. Bibcode:2008Natur.453..175W. doi:10.1038/nature06936. PMC 2803040. PMID 18464734. Jenuwein, T.; Eisenhaber, S.; O'Carroll, F.; Strahl, D. N.; Sun, B. D.; Schmid, Z. W.; Opravil, M.; Mechtler, S.; Ponting, K.; Allis, C. P.; Jenuwein, C. D. (2000). "Regulation of chromatin structure by site-specific histone H3 methyltransferases". Nature. 406 (6796): 593–599. Bibcode:2000Natur.406..593R. doi:10.1038/35020506. PMID 10949293. S2CID 205008015. Zhang, Y.; Leaves, N. I.; Anderson, G. G.; Ponting, C. P.; Broxholme, J.; Holt, R.; Edser, P.; Bhattacharyya, S.; Dunham, A.; Adcock, I. M.; Pulleyn, L.; Barnes, P. J.; Harper, J. I.; Abecasis, G. A.; Cardon, L.; White, M.; Burton, J.; Matthews, L.; Mott, R.; Ross, M.; Cox, R.; Moffatt, M. F.; Cookson, W. O. C. M. (2003). "Positional cloning of a quantitative trait locus on chromosome 13q14 that influences immunoglobulin E levels and asthma". Nature Genetics. 34 (2): 181–186. doi:10.1038/ng1166. hdl:10044/1/57392. PMID 12754510. S2CID 20807679. Gerken, T.; Girard, C. A.; Tung, Y. -C. L.; Webby, C. J.; Saudek, V.; Hewitson, K. S.; Yeo, G. S. H.; McDonough, M. A.; Cunliffe, S.; McNeill, L. A.; Galvanovskis, J.; Rorsman, P.; Robins, P.; Prieur, X.; Coll, A. P.; Ma, M.; Jovanovic, Z.; Farooqi, I. S.; Sedgwick, B.; Barroso, I.; Lindahl, T.; Ponting, C. P.; Ashcroft, F. M.; O'Rahilly, S.; Schofield, C. J. (2007). "The Obesity-Associated FTO Gene Encodes a 2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Nucleic Acid Demethylase". Science. 318 (5855): 1469–1472. Bibcode:2007Sci...318.1469G. doi:10.1126/science.1151710. PMC 2668859. PMID 17991826. Abd El-Aziz, M. M.; Barragan, I.; O'Driscoll, C. A.; Goodstadt, L.; Prigmore, E.; Borrego, S.; Mena, M.; Pieras, J. I.; El-Ashry, M. F.; Safieh, L. A.; Shah, A.; Cheetham, M. E.; Carter, N. P.; Chakarova, C.; Ponting, C. P.; Bhattacharya, S. S.; Antinolo, G. (2008). "EYS, encoding an ortholog of Drosophila spacemaker, is mutated in autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa". Nature Genetics. 40 (11): 1285–1287. doi:10.1038/ng.241. PMC 2719291. PMID 18836446. Crow, Y. J.; Leitch, A.; Hayward, B. E.; Garner, A.; Parmar, R.; Griffith, E.; Ali, M.; Semple, C.; Aicardi, J.; Babul-Hirji, R.; Baumann, C.; Baxter, P.; Bertini, E.; Chandler, K. E.; Chitayat, D.; Cau, D.; Déry, C.; Fazzi, E.; Goizet, C.; King, M. D.; Klepper, J.; Lacombe, D.; Lanzi, G.; Lyall, H.; Martínez-Frías, M. A. L.; Mathieu, M. L.; McKeown, C.; Monier, A.; Oade, Y.; Quarrell, O. W. (2006). "Mutations in genes encoding ribonuclease H2 subunits cause Aicardi-Goutières syndrome and mimic congenital viral brain infection". Nature Genetics. 38 (8): 910–916. doi:10.1038/ng1842. PMID 16845400. S2CID 8076225.