From 1990 to 1993 he was a
postdoctoral researcher in the
Department of Plant Sciences at the
University of Oxford.[8] He was appointed a lecturer in the division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Glasgow from 1994 to 1999. During 1994, he was a
SERC/
NATO funded research scientist in Department of Plant Biology at
Stanford University. He has been Chair of Biochemical Genetics at York since 1999.
Graham's interests include how plants make and breakdown various
metabolites, how these processes are controlled and how they impact on
plant growth. He has used
biochemicalgenetics to dissect the main
metabolic pathways controlling oil mobilisation in Arabidopsis[9][10] seed and provided new insight into how a
lipid based signal controls seed
germination.[11][12] He has used similar approaches to investigate the synthesis of
bioactive compounds in two of the world's major
medicinal plants. This has led to new understanding of how
genome rearrangement has shaped the
evolution of
plant metabolism. The discovery of a 10 gene cluster responsible for the production of the anti-cancer compound
noscapine in opium poppy provided the tools for molecular breeding of new commercial varieties. The discovery of a novel
Cytochrome P450 –
oxidoreductase gene fusion described the last unknown step in synthesis of
morphine and
codeine. Characterisation and genetic mapping of traits responsible for production of
artemisinin in Artemisia annua has enabled development of
F1 hybrid seed that can deliver a robust source of this vital
antimalarial medication for the
developing countries.[13]
^Graham, I. A.; Besser, K.; Blumer, S.; Branigan, C. A.; Czechowski, T.; Elias, L.; Guterman, I.; Harvey, D.; Isaac, P. G.; Khan, A. M.; Larson, T. R.; Li, Y.; Pawson, T.; Penfield, T.; Rae, A. M.; Rathbone, D. A.; Reid, S.; Ross, J.; Smallwood, M. F.; Segura, V.; Townsend, T.; Vyas, D.; Winzer, T.; Bowles, D. (2010). "The Genetic Map of Artemisia annua L. Identifies Loci Affecting Yield of the Antimalarial Drug Artemisinin". Science. 327 (5963): 328–331.
Bibcode:
2010Sci...327..328G.
doi:
10.1126/science.1182612.
PMID20075252.
S2CID31535948. (subscription required)