Paul Martin Sharp (born 1957)^[1] FRS FRSE MRIA^[12][13] is Professor of Genetics at the University of Edinburgh, where he holds the Alan Robertson chair of genetics in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Sharp was educated at the University of Edinburgh where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in 1979^[1][18] followed by a PhD in 1982 for research using quantitative genetics on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster supervised by Alan Robertson.^[14][8]

Sharp has held academic posts at Trinity College, Dublin from 1982 to 1993,^[7] the University of Nottingham from 1993 to 2007^[7] and was appointed Professor at the University of Edinburgh in 2007.^[7]

Sharp's research investigates the evolutionary origin of bacteria and viruses.^[12][19][20] He has carried out important work into the origin of HIV and its transmission from chimpanzees to humans. He also discovered that the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium, originated in gorillas.^[12] He was one of the first researchers to use DNA sequence databases to gain insight into evolutionary processes. His work amplifying DNA from chimpanzee faecal samples showed that HIV type 1 was transmitted to humans from a specific chimp population in West Africa in the early 20th century. Paul went on to examine his collection of ape faecal samples for plasmodium parasites, finding a likely candidate for the form that causes malaria in humans.^[12][21]

In the eighties, Sharp collaborated with Desmond G. Higgins during the creation of CLUSTAL,^[2][3] a suite of multiple sequence alignment programs that have become widely used and highly influential.^[22] His research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).^[23] His former doctoral students include Kenneth H. Wolfe.

Sharps's entry in Who's Who lists his recreations as hill walking, pteridology and, since 1967, supporting Nottingham Forest Football Club.^[1]