Denis Baylor

Early life and education Baylor was born on January 30, 1940, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Baylor received his BA in chemistry from Knox College in 1961, where he graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Research interests and selected publications Denis Baylor is known for work on early steps in vision, in particular the mechanism in which light energy is converted to neural signals within the rod and cone photoreceptor cells of the eye. He provided a quantitative description of the laws that govern the process. Using a new method for recording the electrical currents of individual cells he recorded for the first time the response of retinal rods to single photons of light and showed that the response is remarkably reproducible.

He also described and defined the molecular mechanism of two components of intrinsic photoreceptor noise that limit our ability to detect very dim light.

His work revealed how light and color are initially encoded in the primate retina, providing a physiological basis for psychophysical results of Stiles on human vision.

He also helped to elucidate the molecular mechanism of a number of the steps that mediate and control the photoreceptor's electrical response to light.

Awards and honors Baylor's work has been honored by various awards, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992), the National Academy of Sciences (1993), and the Royal Society of London (2003).