Mike Bate

Christopher Michael "Mike" Bate (born 21 December 1943) is a British developmental biologist whose research has focused on the formation of the nervous system and neuromuscular networks during embryonic development. He is Emeritus Professor of Developmental Neurobiology in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.

Early life and education

Bate was born in Epsom, England, on 21 December 1943. The son of John Gordon Bate, M.B. Ch.B., an R.A.F. doctor and later a pathologist, he spent part of his early childhood in Surrey and London. His paternal grandfather was Herbert Bate, Dean of York 1932–41. His mother, Rachel Denise, was a musician and viola player, and daughter of Samuel Ronald Courthope Bosanquet, KC, recorder of Walsall. A great-uncle on the maternal side, William Temple, was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 to 1944.

He was educated at several preparatory schools and later at St Paul's School, London. Initially intending to pursue languages and a diplomatic career, he switched to biology despite difficulties with mathematics and physical sciences. Fellow of the Royal Society (1997) Waddington Medal from the British Society for Developmental Biology (2001)

Selected publications

Goodman, C. S.; Bate, M.; Spitzer, N. C. (1981). "Embryonic development of identified neurons: origin and transformation of the H cell." Journal of Neuroscience.

Thomas, J. B.; Bastiani, M. J.; Bate, M.; Goodman, C. S. (1984). "From grasshopper to Drosophila: a common plan for neuronal development." Nature.

Bate, M. (1990). "The embryonic development of larval muscles in Drosophila." Development.

Bate, M. (1993). "The mesoderm and its derivatives." In: The Development of Drosophila melanogaster.

Rushton, E.; Drysdale, R.; Abmayr, S. M.; Michelson, A. M.; Bate, M. (1995). "Mutations in a novel gene, myoblast city, provide evidence in support of the founder cell hypothesis for Drosophila muscle development." Development.

Bate, M.; Broadie, K. (eds.) (1995). The Development of Drosophila melanogaster.