Simon W. L. Chan

Simon Wing Lun Chan (1974 – August 22, 2012) was a New Zealand–born plant geneticist and associate professor of plant biology at the University of California, Davis. His research focused on chromosome biology, centromere function, and epigenetic regulation in plants. Chan is best known for discovering a method of producing haploid plants through centromere-mediated genome elimination, useful in plant breeding.

Chan received international recognition for this work and in 2011 was selected as one of the inaugural investigators in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute–Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Plant Science Investigator Program.

Early life and education

Chan was born in 1974 in Auckland, New Zealand.

He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Los Angeles in the laboratory of Steven Jacobsen, focusing on RNA-directed DNA methylation and epigenetic gene silencing. , provided a new method for generating haploid and doubled-haploid plants used in plant breeding. Subsequent work by Chan and collaborators demonstrated that genetic manipulation of meiosis combined with genome elimination could produce clonal seeds, a step toward engineering apomixis in crops.

Chan's research linked fundamental chromosome biology and applied plant biotechnology, demonstrating that centromere engineering could enable new plant breeding and chromosome engineering approaches.

In 2017, Selwyn College in Auckland established the Simon Chan Science Scholarship in his memory. The scholarship supports a graduating student pursuing university studies in science.

Personal life and death

Chan died on August 22, 2012 at the age of 38 from complications related to primary sclerosing cholangitis while awaiting a liver transplant.

He was also known among colleagues for his interest in food and restaurants and for exploring new cuisines.

Selected publications