Molecular biologist gets £1m prize

Francisco J Ayala, an international authority on molecular evolution and genetics, received the honour at a private reception at Buckingham Palace .

The Templeton prize – one of the world's largest annual monetary awards – honours individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension. The scientist is professor of biological sciences at the University of California and will give the prize money to his department to support graduate education.

The geneticist, who will give a lecture at the Royal Society today, said: "This is a remarkable prize. I hope the recognition it bestows will help propagate the notion that science and religion are not in opposition and that, in fact, they may often be complementary." A former Dominican priest, he served as an expert witness in a United States federal court challenge in 1981 that led to the overturning of an Arkansas law that stated creationism should be taught alongside evolution.

The professor, whose research into single-celled disease-causing organisms may lead to cures for malaria and other illnesses, has equated efforts to block religious intrusions into science with "the survival of rationality".