Mervyn Bibb

Mervyn J. Bibb is a British molecular microbiologist and Emeritus Fellow at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England. He is known for his pioneering work on the genetics of antibiotic-producing bacteria, particularly Streptomyces species, and for developing genetic manipulation techniques that have enabled detailed understanding of antibiotic biosynthesis.

Early life and education Bibb was born in Cannock, Staffordshire, and grew up in the rural village of Wedges Mills. He attended Walhouse Junior School and Cannock Grammar School.

Bibb received his B.Sc. degree in Genetics and Developmental Biology with First Class Honours from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 1974. He carried out his Ph.D. research on the genetics of Streptomyces coelicolor, a medically and agriculturally important model bacterium, in the Department of Genetics at the John Innes Institute in Norwich under the supervision of Professor Sir David Hopwood FRS, receiving his degree in 1978.

Career

Postdoctoral research From 1978 to 1982, Bibb pursued postdoctoral work at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, under the guidance of Professor Stanley N. Cohen, where he carried out the first gene cloning experiments in Streptomyces species.

John Innes Centre In 1982, Bibb returned to the John Innes Institute (now John Innes Centre, JIC) as a Group Leader.

Between 2001 and 2003, he took a leave of absence from JIC to serve as Senior Research Director for Natural Product Discovery at Diversa Corporation (later Verenium, now part of BASF) in San Diego, California.

Research

Antibiotic biosynthesis Bibb's research has focused on understanding antibiotic production and its regulation in actinomycetes, the bacterial family that includes Streptomyces species and represents the major source of clinically useful antibiotics. The programme provides training in the specialised metabolism of actinomycetes and related topics. He has presented his work at over 70 international conferences. Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology Colworth Prize, Microbiology Society

Personal life Bibb married Maureen (née Lynch) in 1978. They have two daughters, Eleana and Catherine and, courtesy of Eleana and Toby, they have three grandchildren: Sophia, Lillia, and Xavier.