Richard Cotton (geneticist) Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

Professor Cotton was invited to talk at TedX Sydney in 2011 on the Human Variome Project. The Talk can be viewed on the TedX Website at https://tedxsydney.com/talk/the-human-variome-project/

The importance of the Human Variome Project was recognised in 2011 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the Project’s admittance to Official Partner status.

The Human Variome Project was established in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006. The delegates that attended the first meeting included the world’s top geneticists, clinicians and bioinformaticians and representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO), OECD, European Commission, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), March of Dimes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), some two dozen international genetics bodies, and numerous genetics journals. >

The importance of the Professor Richard Cotton’s contribution to Human Genetics was recognised in 2005 by him being admitted as a Member of the Order of Australia for service to science through genetic research, particularly through the development of technologies to detect gene mutations that underlie birth defects or cause disease and through efforts to document findings.

The establishment of Human Mutation lead Cotton and his colleagues globally to begin efforts to unify the field and make the collection of genetic variation information systematic, standardized and complete across all genes. In 1996, to further stimulate activity in this area, Cotton originally set up the Human Genome Organization Mutation Database Initiative. In 2001 this became the Human Genome Variation Society. Then in the early 2000s, closely following the widely acclaimed completion of the Human Genome Project, it became clear that a more active and more internationally focused effort was needed to enable the systematic collection, curation, interpretation and sharing of genetic variation information. From this realization, Cotton founded and launched the Human Variome Project.

In 1992, Professor Cotton founded the scientific journal Human Mutation, which is now a top 20 Genetics and Heredity Journal globally. As he recalls, he founded the journal because he thought it was absurd that researchers and doctors had no place to report and check the severity of the mutations they found in their patients. 25 Years after it was founded, an edition was dedicated to the life of Professor Cotton in the article titled “Infectious Enthusiasm! Larger than Life! That Laugh! That Smile! In Loving Memory of Richard G.H. (Dick) Cotton”.

In 1991 Professor Cotton initiated the biennial Mutation Detection Conferences and Workshops. These events bring together the world’s leading scientists in the fields of mutation detection to exchange ideas and explore further ways of developing these technologies, as well as introduce these technologies and techniques to young scientists around the world.

Richard Cotton was awarded the Selwyn-Smith Medical Research Prize in 1991 for his entry based on DNA probes, Mutation (Biology) and RNA

In 1986, Professor Richard Cotton, together with Dr David Danks, founded The Murdoch Institute (now named the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, which brought genetic research to Australia. Their vision for an independent genetic research institute has since grown from a handful of researchers to become a world-class centre of genetics research and clinical genetics services.

It was during his time in Cambridge that Cotton conceived, planned and executed the fundamental experiment that proved when two immunoglobulin producing cells were fused, the immunoglobulin of both parental cells were produced in the hybrid. This laid the practical and theoretical foundation for the now widely used monoclonal antibody technique for which César Milstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1984. Monoclonal antibodies are now regularly used in all aspects of medical research and clinical practice, and particularly in the treatment of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and to prevent coagulation during coronary angioplasty. All cancer drugs on the market today with AB in the name are a direct result of Professor Cotton’s work. These include Rituximab (trade names Rituxan, MabThera and Zytux).

After graduating BAgrSc in 1963, it was assumed he would head back to assist on the family farm, but he was encouraged to undertake further studies at the University of Melbourne. Cotton began his career in the field of biochemical genetics with bacteria and the synthesis of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, completing his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 1967. He was a postdoctoral fellow at some of the leading human genetics laboratories in the world, first at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University in Canberra, and then overseas at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in southern California, and the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge. He graduated DSc from the University of Melbourne in 1983.

After leaving boarding school, Cotton studied Agricultural Science at the University of Melbourne, where he entered residence at Trinity College in 1959, and was a member of the 2nd VIII rowing crew. The later years of the course were conducted at the Dookie campus, Victoria’s oldest and Australia’s second oldest agricultural college.

The Old Melburnians Dick Cotton Fellowship was established by the Old Melburnians Council to honour his memory, with the Fellowship being awarded to a young Old Melburnian who demonstrates Dick’s values, commitment, concern for the underdog, enthusiasm for life and desire to make a real difference. Further details can be found at https://www.mgs.vic.edu.au/mg/content/remembering-dick-cotton-om-1958

Richard Cotton AM (10 November 1940 – 14 June 2015) was an Australian medical researcher and founder of the Murdoch Institute and the Human Variome Project. Cotton focused on the prevention and treatment of genetic disorders and birth defects.