Andrew Travers is an Emeritus Scientist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB) and a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the use of the genetics and biochemistry of bacteria and Drosophila to study the mechanisms of chromatin folding and unfolding. He started his academic career at the MRC LMB before spending two years as a post-doc in Jim Watson's lab at Harvard University, where he co-discovered the first of the RNA polymerase sigma factors.