Hugh Esmor Huxley

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Hugh Esmor Huxley (born February 25, 1924 in Birkenhead , England , † July 25, 2013 in Woods Hole , Massachusetts ) was a British biologist . Most recently, he was a professor of biology at Brandeis University in Waltham in the US state of Massachusetts. He was best known for his studies of the structure of muscles, more precisely the studies of the myosin and actin molecules in muscles.

Research topics

Hugh Huxley studied physics at Christ's College of the University of Cambridge . Between 1943 and 1947 he had to interrupt his training because he was drafted for military service in the Royal Air Force. During this time he dealt with the testing of the H2S radar system . The improvements he developed led to his being appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1948. In the same year he completed his bachelor's degree in Cambridge.

Also in 1948 he decided to study the structure of muscle fibers with the help of X-rays for a doctoral thesis . To this end, he joined the Medical Research Council Unit for Research on the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems , Max Perutz's working group , where he was supervised by John Kendrew . With the help of the X-rays, he discovered, among other things, the first clues for molecular changes in contracting muscles, which were later recognized as changes in the ATP concentration, as well as the first clues for the interaction of actin and myosin. He received his PhD from Christ's College in 1952.

In late 1952, Huxley moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Together with Jean Hanson (1919–1973) he laid the foundation for the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction with the help of light microscopic and electron microscopic images . In 1958 he first described the interaction of ATP and myosin as the basis of muscle movements.

In 1962 Huxley left MIT and returned from the USA to Cambridge, to the newly opened Laboratory of Molecular Biology , of which he later became director. Here - as from 1988 as a professor at Brandeis University - he continued to dedicate himself to researching muscle movements.

Awards and memberships

Esmor Huxley was elected a member of the Leopoldina in 1964, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1965, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1978 . The Royal Society awarded Huxley the Royal Medal in 1977 and the Copley Medal in 1997 . In 1963 he was honored by the Feldberg Foundation , in 1971 he received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize , 1974 the international Antonio Feltrinelli Prize , 1975 a Gairdner Foundation International Award , 1983 the EB Wilson Medal , 1987 the Albert Einstein World Award of Science and in 1990 the Benjamin Franklin Medal .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary for Hugh Esmor Huxley in: Christ's College Cambridge ( Memento from September 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Hugh Huxley and Jean Hanson: Changes in the Cross-Striations of Muscle during Contraction and Stretch and their Structural Interpretation. In: Nature . Volume 173, 1954, pp. 973-976, doi: 10.1038 / 173973a0
personal data
SURNAME Huxley, Hugh Esmor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British biologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Birkenhead , England
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 2013
Place of death Woods Hole , Massachusetts