Anthony J. Trewavas is a professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, best known for his research in the fields of plant physiology

Plant physiology

Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...

 and molecular biology

Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...

.

He is the leader of the Edinburgh Molecular Signalling Group, who are investigating the role of calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

 in signal transduction

Signal transduction

Signal transduction occurs when an extracellular signaling molecule activates a cell surface receptor. In turn, this receptor alters intracellular molecules creating a response...

 during plant development. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...

 (1993), the Royal Society of Arts

Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...

 (1995), the Royal Society of London (1999), the Centre for Future Studies (2001), and received the "corresponding membership" award from the American Society of Plant Biologists in 1999, a prize given to one non-US biologist per year. He is named by the Institute for Scientific Information

Institute for Scientific Information

The Institute for Scientific Information was founded by Eugene Garfield in 1960. It was acquired by Thomson Scientific & Healthcare in 1992, became known as Thomson ISI and now is part of the Healthcare & Science business of the multi-billion dollar Thomson Reuters Corporation.ISI offered...

 as a highly cited author in the field of animal and plant Sciences (ISI author number A0597-2002-C). He is a past or present member of the editorial boards of the publications, Trends in Plant Science

Trends (journals)

Trends is a series of scientific journals owned by Elsevier that publish review articles in a range of areas of biology. They are currently part of Elsevier's Cell Press group of journals....

, Botanica Acta, Plant Physiology

Plant Physiology (journal)

Plant Physiology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers research on physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, biophysics, and environmental biology of plants. The journal has been published since 1926 by the American Society of Plant Biologists. It is a...

, What's New in Plant Physiology, Biochemical Journal

Biochemical Journal

The Biochemical Journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology...

and Plant, Cell and Environment.

His recent research used a flexible confocal

Confocal

In geometry, confocal means having the same foci.* For an optical cavity consisting of two mirrors, confocal means that they share their foci...

 fluorescence ratio aiming assembly to image calcium redistribution during contact sensing, stomatal aperture control, pollen tube

Pollen tube

The pollen tubes is the male gametophyte of seed plants that acts as a conduit to transport the male sperm cells from the pollen grain, either from the stigma to the ovules at the base of the pistil, or directly through ovule tissue in some gymnosperms .After pollination, the pollen tube...

 and rhizoid

Rhizoid

Rhizoids are thread-like growths from the base or bottom of a plant, found mainly in lower groups such as algae, fungi, bryophytes and pteridophytes, that function like roots of higher plants ....

 growth, moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...

 development and photomorphogenesis

Photomorphogenesis

In developmental biology, photomorphogenesis is light-mediated development. The photomorphogenesis of plants is often studied by using tightly-frequency-controlled light sources to grow the plants.-Germination:...

. Plants were transformed with the gene for the calcium sensitive luminescent protein aequorin

Aequorin

Aequorin is a photoprotein isolated from luminescent jellyfish and a variety of other marine organisms...

, allowing measurements of cytosolic calcium in plants and bacteria. Plants have also been transformed with genes for calmodulin

Calmodulin

Calmodulin is a calcium-binding protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells...

 to better assess the role of calcium in development. The group also cloned plant calcium channels and MARCKS, an actin/calmodulin binding protein.

Trewavas is one of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's strongest supporters of genetically modified food

Genetically modified food

Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...

 crops and is a vocal critic of organic food

Organic food

Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...

.