Professor Dame Kay Davies

From Eric Clapton to Schubert. Scientist, Professor Dame Kay Davies shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young

Professor Kay Davies has dedicated much of her life to finding a cure for the severest form of muscular dystrophy. Before she was 40, she'd helped to develop the antenatal test which is now used around the world, then she isolated the gene sequence which could be instrumental in treating the condition.

It's quite something for a woman who doesn't have an O-level in biology. Although, even as a child she did possess that critical quality crucial to scientific pioneers: "I loved solving problems," she says, "I was very tenacious and would sit in my room until I had finished the problem. I am a sticker."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.