Christopher Paul Ponting is a British computational biologist, specializing in the evolution and function of genes and genomes.

He is currently Chair of Medical Bioinformatics at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the MRC Human Genetics Unit.

[2] His research focuses on long noncoding RNA function and evolution, on single cell biology and on disease genomics.

He has also used comparative genomics to contribute directly to the understanding of chromatin structure[21] and the genetics of numerous conditions including asthma,[22] obesity,[23] Alzheimer's disease,[24] retinitis pigmentosa,[25] muscular dystrophies,[26] and Aicardi–Goutières syndrome.

[27] Additionally, his lab is part of DecodeME, a genetic study to determine the potential causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).