Hewson Swift

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Hewson Hoyt Swift (born November 8, 1920 in Auburn , New York (state) , † January 1, 2004 in Chicago ) was an American cell biologist and biochemist. A recognized expert on chromosome structures and their function; with DNA -Untersuchungen he studied evolutionary relationships . Swift founded the American Cell Biology Society in 1960 with Keith R. Porter . He defined the C value as the basic genetic unit , which corresponds to the amount of DNA in a haploid cell nucleus for biological species .

Life

Hewson's father was Arthur L Swift, pastor. The mother was Hildegarde, née Hoyt, a writer.

Born in Auburn, a small town in the state of New York, Hewson grew up in New York City . He received his bachelor's degree in 1942 at Swarthmore College , Pennsylvania . On June 6, 1942, Joan Woodcock and Hewson were married. Swift studied with his wife at the University of Iowa , where he graduated with a Master of Science degree in 1945 . The following year he moved to the Washington, DC area to work for the Department of Agriculture as an entomologist, but soon moved to the National Museum of Natural History as a curator for spiders . In 1947 he moved back to New York to start his doctoral thesis with Arthur Pollister and Franz Schrader. Theme of the work: Determination of the amounts of DNA in individual [cell] cores ( "Determining DNA Amounts in single nuclei"), completed in 1950 at the in Manhattan nearby Columbia University .

As early as 1949, Swift began teaching zoology at the University of Chicago . There he became a professor in 1958; 1972–1977 he also took over the chairmanship of the biology department. He then received a professorship in molecular genetics, cell biologist and pathology in honor of George Wells Beadle . In 1967 Swift was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , and in 1971 to the National Academy of Sciences . In 1985 he received the EB Wilson Medal of the American Society for Cell Biology .

Swift left behind his wife Joan, a pediatrician at Chicago City Colleges, and daughters Deirdre Anne Swift and Barbara S Brewer.

Publications (selection)

  • Hewson H Swift: The deoxyribose nucleic acid content of animal nuclei. In: Physiol Zool , 23, 3, 1950, pp. 169-198.
  • Arthur W Pollister, Hewson Swift, M Alfert: Studies on the desoxypentose nucleic acid content of animal nuclei. In: J Cell Physiol , 38, Suppl 1, 1951, pp. 101-119.
  • Hewson Swift, Klaus Patau : The DNA-content (Feulgen) of nuclei during mitosis in a root tip of onion. In: Chromosoma , 6, 2, 1953, pp. 149-169.
  • Richard M Klein, Ellen M Rasch, Hewson Swift: Nucleic acids and tumor genesis in broad bean. In: Cancer Res , 13, 7, 1953, pp. 499-502, open article.
  • J Woodward, B Gelber, Hewson Swift: Nucleoprotein changes during the mitotic cycle in Paramecium aurelia. In: Exp Cel Res , 23, 1961, pp. 258-264.
  • Henry Rappaport, Takashi Nakai, Hewson Swift: The fine structure of normal and neoplastic melanocytes in the Syrian hamster, with particular reference to carcinogen-induced melanotic tumors. In: J Cell Biol , 16, 1963, pp. 171-186, PMC 2106193 (free full text)
  • John Woodart, Hewson Swift: The DNA content of cold-treated chromosomes. In: Exp Cell Res , 34, 1964, pp. 131-137.
  • John Woodart, Ellen Rasch, Hewson Swift: Nucleic acid and protein metabolism during the mitotic cycle in Vicia faba. In: J Biophys Biochem Cytol , 9, 1961, pp. 445-462, PMC 2224997 (free full text)
  • Murray Rabinowitz, John Sinclair, Louis Desalle, Robert Haselkorn, Hewson H Swift: Isolation of deoxyribonucleic acid from mitochondria of chick embryo heart and liver. In: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA , 53, 5, 1965, pp. 1126–1133, PMC 301383 (free full text)

Honors, membership

  • 1963–1964: President of the American Society for Cell Biology. During this time, Swift sponsored the creation of the Journal of Cell Biology ,
  • 1971: Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences; President of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology 1976–1979.
  • 1972–1973: President of the Histochemical Society.
  • 1977: Quantrell Award for excellent teaching at the University of Chicago.
  • 1985: EB Wilson Award for outstanding contributions to cell biology.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical at Prabook.
  2. ↑ Hildegarde Hoyt Swift: The railroad to freedom. Hartcourt, Brace & Co, New York 1932.
  3. ↑ Hildegarde Hoyt Swift: North star shining: A pictorial history of the American negro. W Morrow, New York 1947.
  4. ↑ Biographical at Prabook.
  5. ↑ The main source for the Swift biography is the obituary of the University of Chicago: Version of January 22, 2004. → Weblinks.
  6. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter S. (PDF; 1.4 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved November 27, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Swift, Hewson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Swift, Hewson Hoyt (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cell biologist and biochemist
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Auburn , New York (State)
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 2004
Place of death Chicago