Mark Purdey was born in the village of Much Hadham in the UK. He is a descendent of the globally renowned "Purdey shotgun" family and attended London University to study zoology and psychology. In his mid twenties, he pioneered an organic dairy farm on which he bred up a herd of pedigree Jersey cattle. The breeding was designed to produce cattle that demonstrated longevity and an ability to produce milk from a self-sufficient system with minimal reliance upon feed. Mark initiated research into the environmental prerequisites of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies after BSE erupted in four cows that he had purchased. None of his farm bred cows ever contracted BSE. His investigative journey into the origins of Mad Cow has been featured on several UK television documentary films, and Mark has been invited to address many UK government scientific advisory committees.