Rodney Robert Porter
Encyclopedia
Rodney Robert Porter, FRS (8 October 1917 – 6 September 1985) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...

 and Nobel laureate.

Born in Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows is a small market town within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is situated about midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, to the east of St Helens, to the north of Warrington and to the south of...

, St Helens
Metropolitan Borough of St Helens
The Metropolitan Borough of St Helens is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It is named after its largest town St Helens, and covers an area which includes the settlements of Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown, Haydock, Rainhill, Eccleston, Clock Face, Billinge and...

, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Rodney Robert Porter received his Bachelors of Sciences degree from the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

 in 1939 for Biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...

. He moved to the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 where he became Fred Sanger's first PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 student. He was awarded his doctorate in 1948.

He worked for the National Institute for Medical Research
National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a medical research facility situated in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of London, England. It is mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, or MRC, and is its largest establishment and the only one designated as an...

 for eleven years (1949–1960) before joining St. Mary's Hospital Medical School
St Mary's Hospital (London)
St Mary's Hospital is a hospital located in Paddington, London, England that was founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it is operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which also operates Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital,...

, Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

 and becoming the Pfizer Professor of Immunology. In 1967 he was appointed Whitley Professor of Biochemistry at Oxford University.

In 1972, Porter shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology with Gerald M. Edelman for determining the chemical structure of an antibody
Antibody
An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen...

. Using the enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 papain
Papain
Papain, also known as papaya proteinase I, is a cysteine protease enzyme present in papaya and mountain papaya .-Papain family:...

, he broke the blood's immunoglobin into fragments, making them easier to study. He also looked into how the blood's immunoglobins react with cellular surfaces.

In 1991, Prof. Raymond Dwek
Raymond Dwek
Professor Raymond Allen Dwek BSc DPhil DSc FRS is a scientist at the University of Oxford and founded its spin-off biotechnology company, Oxford GlycoSciences Ltd. ....

 founded the Oxford Glycobiology Institute at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford
The Department of Biochemistry in the Science Area at Oxford University, England, is one of the largest such departments in Europe. It is currently made up of three main buildings* The New Biochemistry building...

 and this building was named after Porter as the Rodney Porter building.

He died in a road accident near Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

 and is survived by his wife and five children.

External links

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