Queen’s Honours for Cambridge academics
The Queen has honoured five Cambridge academics for their contributions to international scholarship.
Professor Azim Surani, Marshall-Walton Professor of Physiology and Reproduction, will receive a CBE for ‘services to Biology’.
Professor Surani obtained his PhD in Mammalian Development at the University of Cambridge in 1975 under Professor R G Edwards, the pioneer of test tube babies. He established his independent laboratory at the Babraham Institute in 1979 as a Senior Principal Investigator. In 1991, he returned to the University of Cambridge as the Marshall-Walton Professor at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology. His past work includes the discovery of the phenomenon of Genomic Imprinting in mice. His recent work has focussed on the specification and properties of the mouse germ cell lineage, including epigenetic reprogramming of the genome. His studies contributed to the advancement of cancer research, stem cells and regenerative medicine.
Professor Surani said: “I am absolutely stunned and delighted to receive such an honour. I consider it as a very special tribute for my colleagues and students who have contributed to many exciting times and discoveries in our research on the germ line and stem cells. Cambridge provides a unique environment and support for innovative research, which has been generously sponsored by the Wellcome Trust and the BBSRC. I have had an extremely rewarding experience, and I consider myself fortunate and privileged to work at one of the best Institutes in the world.”
Professor Jim Smith, Director of the Gurdon Institute, said: “I am delighted that Azim Surani’s work has been recognised in this way. From his discovery of genomic imprinting in mice to his more recent work on germ cell specification and genetic reprogramming, Azim has made a series of pioneering and fundamental discoveries that have helped keep the UK at the forefront of biomedical science, particularly in the important area of stem cells. I am sure that this honour recognises not only the relevance of Azim’s studies to the health of the nation, but also the extraordinarily high quality of his work over a sustained period.”
Source: Cambridgenetwork.co.uk
Ismailimail 
From The Muslim News
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A great honour indeed for Professor Surani’s achievements in the fields of molecular biology and genetics. The study of how molecules operate in the microscopic creation reminds me in particular of the following:
Discovery of knowledge was seen by those founders as an embodiment of religious faith, and faith as reinforced by knowledge of workings of the Creator’s physical world.
(Aga Khan IV, Speech,1994, Cambridge, Massachusets, U.S.A.)
In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur’anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah’s will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur’an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah’s benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: ‘Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah’.
(Aga Khan IV,Speech, 2003, London, U.K.)
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