| Citation | Professor Grierson has pioneered the use of molecular genetic techniques to study the physiology and molecular basis of fruit ripening and senescence in plants. He isolated genes concerned with the ripening of many fruits and used antisense technology to inactivate specific genes in transgenic plants. He has identified the gene encoding the enzyme catalysing the synthesis of ethylene which is a major regulator of growth in plants. His work has been exploited commercially to obtain control of fruit quality and ripening |