John Howard Mueller

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John Howard Mueller (born June 13, 1891 in Sheffield (Massachusetts) , † February 16, 1954 ) was an American biochemist , pathologist and bacteriologist and discoverer of the amino acid methionine (1922).

biography

Mueller was the son of a Unitarian clergyman and grew up in Illinois. He studied biology at Illinois Weslyan University with a bachelor's degree in 1912. He was then a two-year instructor in chemistry at the University of Louisville before he received his master's degree in 1914. He took an interest in pathology and bacteriology, and in 1914 attended a summer course at Columbia University's medical school . There he stayed for further studies after receiving a scholarship and received his doctorate in 1916 (Ph.D. in pathology). He then was an assistant pathologist at Presbyterian Hospital. In 1917 he volunteered at the front in France with a medical unit and was involved in detecting the transmission of trench fever by lice. In 1919 he was discharged as a lieutenant and became an instructor for bacteriology under Hans Zinsser at Columbia University. There he examined the conditions for bacterial cultures of pathogenic agents. As he wrote in a 1922 publication, he already had in mind the application and transferability of the results to animals and plants. This contradicted the opinion widespread at the time that bacteria had nothing to do with higher living beings. In 1922 he succeeded in detecting methionine, which certain streptococci needed for their growth. In 1923 he followed Zinsser when he became professor for bacteriology and immunology at Harvard University (Medical School). Mueller became an assistant professor. There he had to interrupt his work on bacterial metabolism (including work on the Rous sarcoma virus ), so that his next work on this topic did not appear until 1933. During this time, he concentrated on the diphtheria pathogen as an experimental model. He was able to determine the amino acids it needed for its growth and found that these are different in different strains of the same pathogen. He also identified other substances necessary for growth. With these investigations, Mueller contributed to establishing the universality of biochemical processes in bacteria and higher living beings. His work with the diphtheria pathogen also had practical relevance for the development of vaccines against diphtheria (by optimizing the bacterial cultures). From the early 1940s he turned to the tetanus pathogen.

After Zinsser's death in 1940, he became head of the bacteriology department at Harvard. In doing so, he carried on research (he got up early and experimented until mid-morning, handed over to his assistant Pauline Miller and then devoted himself to administrative work). In addition to basic research, his aim has always been medical applications to combat infectious agents.

He recognized early (in the same year 1944) the importance of the work of Oswald Avery , Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty on DNA .

Mueller was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1928 and a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1945 .

Fonts (selection)

  • Studies on cultural requirements of bacteria, Part 1, J. Bacteriology, Volume 7, 1922, pp. 309-324, Part 2, pp. 325-338
  • Nutrition of the single cell: Its application to medical bacteriology, Harvey Lecture Series, Volume 39, 1943/44, pp. 143-161
  • The chemistry and metabolism of bacteria, Annual Review Biochemistry, Volume 14, 1945, pp. 733-748

literature

  • AM Pappenheimer Jr .: John Howard Mueller, Biographical Memoirs National Academy, Volume 57, 1987, p. 307, online

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mueller, A new sulfur-containing amino acid isolated from the hydrolytic product of protein, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 56, 1923, pp. 157-169, Part 2, Volume 58, 1923, pp. 373-375
  2. ↑ in his review article on bacterial metabolism in Annual Review Biochemistry, published 1945
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter M. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved March 23, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Mueller, John Howard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biochemist
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Sheffield, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1954