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Rodney Porter
Biochemist

Rodney Porter

Famoose for

Determining the chemical structure of antibodies.

Protein fragments · Complement proteins

Born
8 October 1917
Birthplace
Newton-le-Willows
Died
6 September 1985

More people

Marie CurieDiscovering polonium and radium.Albert EinsteinDeveloping the theory of relativity.Charles DarwinExplaining evolution through natural selection.

Rodney Porter

British researcher whose antibody studies helped establish modern immunology. Shared the 1972 medicine Nobel Prize with Gerald Edelman.

Early life

Education

Studied biochemistry at Liverpool and, after wartime military service, became Frederick Sanger’s first doctoral student at Cambridge.

Career

  1. 1949

    Medical research

    Joined the National Institute for Medical Research.

  2. 1960

    Immunology chair

    Moved to St Mary’s Hospital Medical School.

  3. 1967

    Oxford

    Became Whitley professor of biochemistry.

Contributions

Protein fragments

Used papain to divide antibodies into parts that could be studied separately.

Complement proteins

Investigated another part of the body’s defence against infection.

Beyond work

Family

Married Julia New in 1948. They had five children.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: MRC National Institute for Medical Research. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.