Gregory completed his
B.Sc. (Hons) at
McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ontario in 1997 and his
Ph.D. in
evolutionary biology and
zoology at the University of Guelph in 2002. He then carried out
postdoctoral work at the
American Museum of Natural History in
New York City (2002–2003) and the
Natural History Museum in
London,
England (2003–2004) before returning to the University of Guelph as a
faculty member. He has broad interests in the life science, including genomics, cytogenetics, cell biology, morphology, behaviour, physiology, developmental biology, ecology, and palaeontology -- all linked by the unifying theme of evolution. His main
research focuses primarily on the issue of
genome size evolution (the "
C-value enigma") in animals and the origins and biological significance of "
junk DNA". He outlined the
Onion Test as a "reality check for anyone who thinks they have come up with a universal function for junk DNA". He created the
Animal Genome Size Database in 2001. He is also active in the
DNA barcoding initiative spearheaded by his former Ph.D. adviser,
Paul D.N. Hebert at the University of Guelph, with a particular focus on
parasites,
pathogens, and disease
vectors. Gregory is the author of more than 65
peer-reviewed scientific journal articles with an
h-index of 51 according to Google Scholar, and edited the book
The Evolution of the Genome in 2004. He is Senior Handling Editor of the journal
Evolution: Education and Outreach founded by
Niles Eldredge. He maintained a blog,
Genomicron, and created
Evolver Zone, an online resource for students and educators. In 2022, following the emergence of the
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant the previous fall, the
World Health Organization (WHO) ceased giving new COVID variants
Greek alphabet names, and in March 2023, they officially revised their policy to name only
Variants of Concern. The lack of new names from the WHO and the reliance on only
PANGO lineage numbers to track new COVID variants led to frustration among scientists and other groups, with some scientists and media outlets criticizing the post-Omicron naming policy as confusing, creating a false sense of security, and being a public communication failure. Later that fall, T. Ryan Gregory decided to begin assigning significant Omicron sublineages new names from
Greek mythology, assigning the names "Typhon", "Cerberus", "Gryphon", "Kraken", and "Eris" to Omicron subvariants BQ.1 (BA.5.3.1.1.1.1.1), BQ.1.1, XBB, XBB.1.5, and EG.5 (XBB.1.9.2.5), respectively, and "Pirola" and "Juno" to Omicron Variant
BA.2.86 and its main JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1) sublineage, respectively. While these names caught on in the media, there were some groups that were displeased with his decision to name COVID variants. In addition to his scientific and educational interests, he has developed
BioArt projects using living organisms. His
Microbial Art website, which showcases works by a variety of artists and scientists, has been featured in print and online publications in a variety of countries. ==References==