THE SHORTLIST:

Winner: Sir Martin Evans Professor Colin Blakemore Sir David King

The 2007 Science & Innovation winner is: Professor Sir Martin Evans

Science & innovation have historically been at the heart of Britain, and remain so to this day. From the invention of the World Wide Web to the discovery of DNA finger printing we have always been among the world leaders in this field. The judges in this category look for achievements - from new inventions and breakthroughs in science engineering, to innovative applications of existing technology. From this year on, we will also be considering those who have aided the public understanding of science.

Sir Martin Evans - Winner

A British scientist who has been described as “the father of stem cell research” and named as one of “Ten Britons who have shaped our world.” His pioneering research, which led to the creation of legions of "knockout" mice that are genetically modified to develop human diseases, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in October 2007. Sir Martin has published more than 120 scientific papers and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993. He is a founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and in 2001 he was awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Award.

External Links
Cardiff University
Guardian piece

Professor Colin Blakemore -

A Neurobiologist who, until earlier this year, was the Chief Executive of the Medical Research council. Along with Professor David Nutt, he has drawn up a new classification system of the relative risks of drugs. He has greatly aided in the public understanding of science and in 1989 was awarded the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Prize for excellence in communicating science to UK audiences. As a neuroscientist who has sought to find the cures for child blindness and for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, he has also shown great bravery in the face of a malicious terrorist campaign orchestrated by animal rights activists.

External links
Guardian article

Sir David King -

Appointed as the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Office of Science and Technology in October 2000, he is set to step down at the end of 2007. During the past seven years Sir David has advised the government on everything from GM foods to stem cell research, foot-and-mouth disease to nuclear power. Science has never been higher up the political or media agenda, and Sir David has often been in the maelstrom where science meets politics.

He is also the Director of the Surface Science Research Group at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge; the leading academic group in Europe specialising in studies of physical and chemical surface interactions in the areas of information storage systems and plasma processing of semiconductors.  It was announced at the end of November 2007 that he has accepted the role of Director of the newly formed Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University.

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