PROFESSOR LISA JARDINE: The perfect polymath?

The chairmanship of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is a poisoned test tube. To caricature its remit, it must oversee scientists who wish to create man-cows in the laboratory while convincing the public that researchers are not playing God. Researchers complain that it regulates too slowly, while “pro-lifers” accuse it of rushing ahead of public opinion. On top of that, the HFEA regulates the provision of all IVF treatment in Britain: a role that invites continual criticism from doctors, patients and the media.

So some may find it fitting that Professor Lisa Jardine, an historian of science, cultural commentator and book reviewer, takes over as HFEA chairwoman on April Fools’ Day. For media interest looks likely to intensify during Jardine’s three-year watch.

Public worries over reproductive science have been largely replaced by fears about embryonic stem-cell research, and especially the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos (so-called cybrids). The HFEA granted the first licences for cybrids last week.

An updated Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, currently passing through Parliament and designed to deal with scientific advances unimaginable even a decade ago, will also preoccupy Jardine. Not that the 63-year-old will mind. A diagnosis of breast cancer in 2005, followed by surgery and chemotherapy, led her to reappraise her already considerable achievements and conclude that they were lacklustre: “My feeling was that I hadn’t done enough,” she told an interviewer in 2006. “I want to do more – much more.”

Jardine, Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary College in London, is one of four daughters born to the Polish mathematician Jacob Bronowski and Rita Coblentz, a sculptor. Bronowski’s scholarly fame was eclipsed by his media career, which culminated in his 1973 TV series The Ascent of Man. Jardine, who worshipped her father – to the exclusion of her mother, she once admitted – intended to follow in his footsteps but, as a student at Cambridge, switched from mathematics to English.

Fluent in several languages, she has impeccable credentials as an academic who bridges the arts/science divide. She has written works on Erasmus, Sir Francis Bacon and Sir Christopher Wren, and holds positions at the V&A, the Royal Society (which represents Britain’s most senior scientists) and the Royal Institution. She has also judged every literary prize going.

Jardine is married to the architect John Hare and has three children (two by her first husband, the history don Nick Jardine).

How will she fare at the HFEA? So far, the whispers seem approving. She is not a career chair, nor is she in thrall to any scientific or medical elite. Who knows, she might even be able to argue the case for man-cows.

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