Int. J. Dev. Biol. 64: 393 - 395 (2020)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.200236vn

Vol 64, Issue 7-8-9

In Memoriam - Antony Durston

Open Access | In Memoriam | Published: 2 October 2020

Morrel H. Cohen¹, Vidyanand Nanjundiah², Cornelis J. Weijer³ and Kongju Zhu⁴

¹Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, ²Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore, India, ³Division of Cell and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK and ⁴Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract

Antony Durston, Tony to friends and colleagues, died on February 21, 2020 following sepsis caused by an underlying medical condition. He made important and highly original contributions to our understanding of the principles that underlie multicellular organisation and development (see Supplementary Material). The attitude which he brought to bear while doing science is as noteworthy as his research. What follows is a brief sketch of his career and persona. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree with Botany as his major from the University of Nottingham in 1965, Tony joined Neville Symonds to do a PhD in bacteriophage genetics at the University of Sussex, where he was influenced as well by Brian Goodwin and John Maynard Smith. It was Symonds who inspired him to develop his natural tendency to think outside the box.