chemistry

John F. Allen (biochemist)

John F. Allen (biochemist) is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John F. Allen (biochemist) rather than just read about it. In short: John Allen (born 23 June 1950) is a British biochemist. He is an honorary professor at the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at the University College London in the United Kingdom.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

John Allen (born 23 June 1950) is a British biochemist. He is an honorary professor at the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at the University College London in the United Kingdom.

Background and education Allen attended Lliswerry Primary School, Newport and Hartridge High School, Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He obtained a BSc from King's College London in 1972 from the School of Biological Sciences. He subsequently obtained a PhD from King's College as well. From 1975 to 1977, Allen was a Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) postdoctoral research fellow at the Botany School of the University of Oxford. During his position as a postdoctoral research assistant at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick in the UK (1979-1983), he was also a visiting research associate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US (1980). In 1983 he took up a lectureship in the Department of Pure and Applied Biology at the University of Leeds. He returned to the US from 1986 to 1987 as a Nuffield Foundation Science Research Fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 1990 he became Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Oslo, Norway. He moved in 1992 to Sweden where he became the first professor in Plant Cell Biology at Lund University. He stayed in Lund until 2005 when he became a Professor of Biochemistry at Queen Mary University of London. He was honoured with a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2005-2009). In 2015, he became honorary professor at University College London.

Contributions to science Allen is a plant biochemist, in particular relating to regulation of photosynthesis. His work has been cited over 12,000 times. He has given over 300 seminars in 22 countries and 4 continents. 19 of these were plenary or named lectures. Professor Allen's name is linked to the CoRR hypothesis which he formulated in 1993 in the Journal of Theoretical Biology, introducing the term "CoRR" in 2003. Briefly, the CoRR hypothesis states that endosymbiotic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts retain genomes to provide for regulation of gene expression by electron transport and the redox state of the organelle. In addition, Allen works on mitochondrial ageing in relation to sex.

Honours and awards Allen has been granted the following honours and awards:

2015-2017, Leverhulme Emeritus Research Fellow 2012-2013, Visiting Professor, Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London 2009–present, Fellow of the Linnean Society of London 2009-2010, Fellow of the Institute of Biology 2008, Rudi Lemberg Travelling Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science 2007, William Evans Fellow at the University of Otago, New Zealand 1993–present, Member of the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund

Selected highly cited publications Allen, John F. (1992). "Protein phosphorylation in regulation of photosynthesis". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics. 1098 (3): 275–335. doi:10.1016/S0005-2728(09)91014-3. PMID 1310622. Allen, John F.; Bennett, John; Steinback, Katherine E.; Arntzen, Charles J. (1981). "Chloroplast protein phosphorylation couples plastoquinone redox state to distribution of excitation energy between photosystems". Nature. 291 (5810): 25–29. doi:10.1038/291025a0. Pfannschmidt, Thomas; Nilsson, Anders; Allen, John F. (1999). "Photosynthetic control of chloroplast gene expression". Nature. 397 (6720): 625–628. doi:10.1038/17624. Allen, J. F.; Forsberg, J. (2001). "Molecular recognition in thylakoid structure and function". Trends in Plant Science. 6 (7): 317–26. doi:10.1016/S1360-1385(01)02010-6. PMID 11435171. Allen, J. F. (1993). "Control of gene expression by redox potential and the requirement for chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes". Journal of Theoretical Biology. 165 (4): 609–31. doi:10.1006/jtbi.1993.1210. PMID 8114509. S2CID 26664598. Allen, J. F. (2003). "The function of genomes in bioenergetic organelles". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 358 (1429): 19–38. doi:10.1098/rstb.2002.1191. PMC 1693096. PMID 12594916. Allen, J. F. (2003). "BOTANY: State Transitions--a Question of Balance". Science. 299 (5612): 1530–1532. doi:10.1126/science.1082833. PMID 12624254.

References

External links For a lecture by Professor Allen at the Royal Society on the CoRR hypothesis see Why are there two sexes? commentary by Daniella Venton, Highlight: On the Origin of the Sexes.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John F. Allen (biochemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John F. Allen (biochemist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John F. Allen (biochemist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John F. Allen (biochemist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John F. Allen (biochemist)

In research: John F. Allen (biochemist) appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John F. Allen (biochemist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John F. Allen (biochemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, Academics of the University of Leeds, Alumni of King's College London, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John F. Allen (biochemist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John F. Allen (biochemist) in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is John F. Allen (biochemist) in simple terms?

John Allen (born 23 June 1950) is a British biochemist. He is an honorary professor at the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at the University College London in the United Kingdom.

Why does John F. Allen (biochemist) matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John F. Allen (biochemist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John F. Allen (biochemist).