Hermann Joseph Muller

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hermann Muller, 1952

Hermann Joseph Muller (* 21st December 1890 in Manhattan , New York , USA ; † 5. April 1967 in Indianapolis , Indiana , USA) was a US -American biologist and geneticist . For the discovery that mutations can be caused with the help of X-rays , he received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine .

Life and work

Berlin memorial plaque on Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, in Berlin-Buch

Hermann Muller grew up in the Harlem district of New York and studied from 1907 at Columbia University , where he made genetics his main subject.

In 1927 Muller observed the spontaneous mutation of genes and was able to induce mutations in fruit flies through irradiation . He showed that high-energy radiation can lead to a change in the genetic make-up . For this discovery he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1946. The LNT model also goes back to him , the hypothesis that radiation is harmful even at low doses according to a linear extrapolation from higher doses without a threshold value. He emphasized this in his noble speech and referred to experiments by Curt Stern . The influential role Muller played in promoting the LNT theory, which became instrumental in assessing radiation risks, was criticized in 2011 by the toxicologist Edward Calabrese , who accused Muller of deliberately misrepresenting experiments. This has been vigorously rejected by other scholars such as Muller's biographer Elof Carlson and historian James Schwartz, who pointed to Muller's known scientific integrity.

In 1932 Muller moved to Germany , later to Russia and Edinburgh . From 1938 he conducted research in Edinburgh with Charlotte Auerbach , who demonstrated the mutagenic effects of chemicals. While Muller went to the United States in 1941 with his wife, the Istanbul and London trained medical doctor Dorothea, called Thea (1909-1986), daughter of the dentist Alfred Kantorowicz , Charlotte Auerbach stayed at the Institute of Animal Genetics in Edinburgh. In 1945, Muller became a professor of zoology at Indiana University . Muller classified different types of mutations.

He was also politically active and was considered a staunch communist . He also fought against fundamental Christian attacks on the theory of evolution . In 1931 Muller was elected to the National Academy of Sciences , 1942 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 1947 to the American Philosophical Society . In 1947 Muller was President of the Genetics Society of America and from 1949 to 1950 first President of the American Society of Human Genetics . In 1953 he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society and in 1959 an honorary member ( Honorary Fellow ) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In 1960 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina . Muller succumbed to congestive heart failure in 1967 .

Honors

In 1946 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine . In 1959 he received the Darwin badge . The evolutionary biological concept Muller's ratchet is named after Muller .

literature

Fonts (selection)

  • Variation due to change in the individual gene . In: American Naturalist. Volume 56, 1922, pp. 32-50.
  • Artificial transmission of the gene . In: Science. Volume 66, 1927, pp. 84-87.
  • Studies in Genetics. The Selected Papers of HJ Muller. Bloomington 1962.

Web links

Commons : Hermann Joseph Muller  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfred Wenzel: Muller, Hermann Joseph. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1016.
  2. ↑ Rudolf Hausmann, 1995, p. 20: “Not that no one thought about the material nature of genes. So z. B. Hermann Muller ... already considered in 1926 the possibility of getting a physical grip on the gene, and also delivered one of the first approaches by showing that X-rays trigger mutations. "(Original literature: Hermann Joseph Muller: Artificial transmutation of the gene . In: Science. Volume 66, 1927, pp. 84-87.)
  3. ↑ Marcel Krok, Attack on radiation geneticists triggers furor , Science Magazine, October 18, 2011
  4. ↑ Ali Vicdani Doyum: Alfred Kantorowicz with special reference to his work in İstanbul (A contribution to the history of modern dentistry). Medical dissertation, Würzburg 1985, p. 30 f.
  5. ^ Ralf Forsbach: The Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn in the Third Reich , Oldenbourg-Verlag, Munich 2006. ISBN 978-348657-989-5 , pp. 402-403.
  6. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter M. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved January 29, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Member History: Hermann Joseph Muller. American Philosophical Society, accessed November 26, 2018 .
  8. ^ Entry on Muller, Hermann Joseph (1890-1967) in the archive of the Royal Society , London
  9. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed March 23, 2020 .
  10. ^ Member entry by Hermann Joseph Muller at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on October 22, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Muller, Hermann Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize winner
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Manhattan , New York , USA
DATE OF DEATH April 5th 1967
Place of death Indianapolis