Mendel Memorial Medal 2025
The Mendelianum Committee of the Moravian Museum
will award the 2025 Mendel Memorial Medal
to T. H. Noel Ellis for his research linking Mendel's work with modern genetics.
The medal, which is awarded annually, recognizes significant contributions to the advancement of Mendel’s scientific and cultural legacy.
T. H. Noel Ellis (born 1953) is currently a visiting scientist at the John Innes Centre, where he worked for 36 years. His core research interests are in genome organisation, diversity, and developmental genetics of pea. He was also Professor of Crop Genetics and Phenotype Biology at the University of Aberystwyth and was Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes.
Noel’s research links historical genetics with modern genetics by identifying pea genes studied by Mendel and characterising them at the molecular level. Since 2015, he has collaborated extensively with Peter van Dijk on a reappraisal of Mendel’s work, deepening our understanding of Mendel’s Genetics. Some relevant publications on Mendel are:
Mendel’s genetics:
- van Dijk P.J. and Ellis T.H.N. (2023) Gregor Mendel and the theory of species multiplication. Genetics 224:iyad046, https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyad046
- Ellis, T.H.N. and van Dijk, P.J. (2023) Mendel’s terminology and notation reveal his understanding of genetics. Hereditas 160, 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41065-023-00276-x
- van Dijk P.J., Jessop A.P. and Ellis T.H.N. (2022) How did Mendel arrive at his discoveries? Nature Genetics 54: 926–933 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01109-9
- Ellis T.H.N., Hofer J.M.I., Swain M.T. and van Dijk P.J. (2019) Mendel's pea crosses: varieties, traits and statistics. Hereditas 156: 33 https://hereditasjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41065-019-0111-y
- van Dijk P.J., Weissing F.J. and Ellis T.H.N. (2018) How Mendel's interest in inheritance grew out of plant improvement. Genetics 210: 1 – 9 https://www.genetics.org/content/210/2/347
- van Dijk P.J. and Ellis T.H.N. (2016) The full breadth of Mendel's genetics. Genetics 204: 1327-1336 https://www.genetics.org/content/204/4/1327
Mendel’s genes:
- Feng, C., ... Ellis, N., Chayut, N. and Cheng, S. (2024) Genomic and Genetic Insights into Mendel’s Pea Genes https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.31.596837
- Ellis T.H.N., Hofer J.M.I., Timmerman-Vaughan G.M., Coyne C.J. and Hellens R.P. (2011) Mendel, 150 years on. Trends in Plant Science 16: 590-596 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2011.06.006
- Hellens R., ... and Ellis T.H.N. (2010) Identification of Mendel's White Flower Character. PLoS ONE 10: e13230 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013230
- Bhattacharyya M.K., Smith A.M., Ellis T.H.N., Hedley C. and Martin C. (1990) The wrinkled-seed character of pea described by Mendel is caused by a transposon-like insertion in a gene encoding starch-branching enzyme. Cell 60: 115-122 DOI: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90721-p
The Mendel Memorial Medal is a unique annual award given to an internationally recognized figure for his or her contribution to the scientific and cultural legacy of Gregor Mendel and genetics. Past recipients of this award have included Nobel prize winners, outstanding researchers, pioneers in genetics, molecular biology, and the history of biology and genetics, as well as other eminent scientists. The year 2022 saw the thirtieth anniversary of the start of the award. Its origin, however, goes back much deeper and is firmly linked to the tradition of developing Mendel’s scientific legacy at the Mendelianum of the Moravian Museum in Brno.
Recipients of the Mendel Memorial Medal:
2025 T. H. Noel Ellis, John Innes Centre, Norfolk, England
2024 Daniel L. Hartl, Massachusetts, United States
2023 P. van Dijk, KeyGene, Wageningen
2022 U. Hoßfeld, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena
2021 T. Nagata, University of Tokyo, Hosei University
2020 J. Sölkner, BOKU, Vienna
2019 C. Laukaitis, University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson
2018 W. Wackernagel, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg
2017 D. J. Fairbanks, Utah Valley University, Orem
2016 J. Vollmann, BOKU, Vienna
2015 A. Matalová, Mendelianum, Brno
2014 H. Lesot, University of Strasbourg
2013 F. Di Trocchio, Sapienza University of Rome
2012 R. C. Karn, University of Arizona
2011 S. Zadražil, Charles University, Prague
2010 W. Mann, Theresia Mendel’s descendant, Darmstadt
2008 J. D. Watson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Long Island
2007 D. Lane, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore
2006 M. W. Nirenberg, Lab. of Biochem. Genetics, NIH, Bethesda
2005 J. Lužný, Mendel University, Brno
2004 J. Šmarda, Masaryk University, Brno
2003 P. T. Sharpe, Guy’s Hospital, London
2002 J. Klein, Max-Planck-Institut für Biologie, Tübingen
2001 L. Lojda, Univ. of Veterinary and Pharm. Sciences, Brno
2000 C. Kovář, Mendel’s Beehouse, Brno
1999 F. W. Anders, Institute of Genetics, Giessen
1998 F. Brückner, Crop Research Institute, Kroměříž
1995 V. N. Soyfer, George Mason University, Fairfax
1994 F. J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine
1993 F. Weiling, University of Agriculture, Bonn
1992 B. Jennings, Hastings Centre, Briarcliff Manor, New York
1992 T. Hirano, Japan Mendel Society, Tokyo
1992 H. Galjaard, Erasmus University, Rotterdam
