David Smyth is a plant developmental geneticist. He began his independent career at Monash University in Melbourne in 1974, where he investigated the basis of the very large genomes of the true lilies (Lilium species) when DNA cloning methods became available. Two abundant dispersed elements turned out to be retrotransposons, revealing their important role in bulking up some plant genomes. In 1988 he switched fields to join the newly accessible area of plant development. Working with Arabidopsis, his group have discovered five new transcription factors with roles in defining the structure of flowers and the differentiation of floral organs.