Francis Joseph Ryan[1] (February 1, 1916 – July 14, 1963) was an American zoologist.
[2] He was a mentor of future Nobel Prize winner Joshua Lederberg, who credited Ryan for "taking a callow underclassman from Washington Heights, brash and argumentative as precocious students often are, and turned [him] into a scientist.
"[4][5] Ryan's research focused on a variety of fields, including experimental embryology, microbial genetics, and he did research on escherichia coli to understand how information about an organism is imprinted in its genetic structure.
[2] His work during the 1950s also disproved the theories of Trofim Lysenko that evolutionary changes are initiated by the environment.
[2] He held visiting professorships and fellowships at the Pasteur Institute and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.