ABOVE: Peter Harper (left) was welcomed into the Learned Society of Wales by Welsh chemist John Cadogan in 2011.
COURTESY OF THE LEARNED SOCIETY OF WALES
Sir Peter Stanley Harper, an influential British geneticist who authored several popular books on the ethics and history of medical genetics, died January 23. He was 81 years old.
Known for his work on myotonic dystrophy and Huntington’s disease, Harper became a widely respected voice in the field of medical genetics in the late 20th century, tackling both the technical aspects of molecular diagnosis and the social implications of using such approaches in the clinic.
“Peter’s impact in clinical genetics was colossal,” reads a statement posted on Twitter by the All Wales Medical Genomics Service, a genetic testing and counseling service that Harper helped develop during his decades-long career at the University of Wales College of Medicine (now merged with Cardiff University). “His work has ...
