PROFESSOR David Lane, chairman of A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), has received the Royal Gold Medal for his outstanding contribution to cancer research through his discovery of p53 tumour suppressor gene.

The Royal Gold Medal is one of the highest accolades from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is given to recipients whose intellectual endeavour have made an impact on people's lives worldwide, said A*Star in a statement on Tuesday.

Professor Lane termed the tumour suppressor, p53, which was discovered back in 1979 as the 'Guardian of the Genome'.

It is the single most crucial defence the cell has against cancer, and it affects cell cycle processes from cancer to ageing.

p53 is a crucial target in cancer therapy and research into it is essential in understanding the cell cycle.

Congratulating Professor Lane, Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman of A*STAR, said: 'David is most deserving of the award and I would like to extend my deepest congratulations to him'.

'His outstanding work on p53 and the impact they have on cancer research worldwide highlight the contributions of basic research to advancing human healthcare'.

'David is an example of how a passionate and persevering scientist can make such a difference to the world through research and development'.

Professor Lane is also the founder and Chief Executive of A*STAR's Experimental Therapeutics Centre, which carries out developmental work and pre clinical evaluation on potential new drugs discovered from within A*STAR research institutes.

His work on p53 in Singapore is still ongoing at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. He is concurrently the Chief Scientist for Cancer Research UK, the UK's largest cancer charity.