Bryan Sykes
Bryan Sykes
Professor of Human Genetics and Founder of Bioarchaeology
9 September 1947
Bryan Sykes is a Professor of Human Genetics at Oxford University, a Fellow of Wolfson College, the founder of bioarchaeology, a science advisor to the British House of Commons and a best-selling author. He is also the founder and chairman of Oxford Ancestors - a firm that offers genealogical DNA testing.
Sykes was educated at Eltham College, London, from 1956-1965. He obtained a BSc in biochemistry and genetics at Liverpool University between 1966 and 1969, before studying for his PhD at Bristol University between 1969 and 1972. In 1973 he started as a research fellow at Oxford University, before becoming a lecturer there in 1987. In 1997, he was appointed a professor of genetics.
In the 1980s, together with his Oxford University colleague Robert E. Hedges, Sykes published the first report of retrieving DNA from an ancient bone. Since then, he has been using the technique to investigate the genetic history of humans. He has been involved with a number of high-profile DNA investigations, into ancient figures such as Ötzi the Iceman, the Cheddar Man, the Russian royal family the Romanovs, and Genghis Khan.
His three books to date - all written with the general reader in mind - have approached different aspects of human genetics. The Seven Daughters of Eve, published in 2001, examined the origins of European women, and became an international best-seller. Its follow-up, 2003's Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men, looked at male reproductive fragility. His third book, Blood of the Isles: Exploring the Genetic Roots of Our Tribal History - published in 2006 - traced the genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants.
Oxford Ancestors was reported by The Times in 2008 to have an annual turnover of £1 million. Sykes currently lives on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
