Robert Guthrie

Robert Guthrie (born June 28, 1916 in Marionville , Missouri , † June 24, 1995 in Seattle , Washington ) was an American microbiologist .

Life

Robert Guthrie was born in Marionville Missouri, grew up in Minnesota and became a doctor there in 1942. In 1946 he received his PhD in bacteriology from the University of Minnesota . During the first twelve years of his career he devoted himself to cancer research. In 1947 his second son was born with a mental disability, in 1958 his niece was also diagnosed with phenylketonuria , so that from then on he directed his research towards the early detection of this disease and the prevention of its damage. Guthrie died on June 23, 1995 at the age of 78. He was married to his wife for 53 years and the couple had six children.

plant

The name Guthries is inextricably linked with the development of the first mass screening for newborns . By the mental disability of his second child to engage in a national disability organization learned Guthrie causes the difficulties in the treatment of phenylketonuria, a congenital metabolic disorder characterized by inability of the organism, the amino acid phenylalanine dismantle know. Previously, he had a lot of experience with bacterial inhibition tests in his cancer research . On this basis, he developed a test in the 1960s, in which bacteria that are dependent on phenylalanine indicate the presence of this amino acid in a blood sample through their growth, the so-called Guthrie test .

In addition, it enables the very simple implementation by standardizing the test for implementation from blood samples ( dry blood ) dried on filter paper . Recognized in good time, the disease can be treated with an appropriate diet, which was developed by the German doctor Horst Bickel as early as 1953 , thus preventing the development of a mental handicap.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Jason Gonzales, Monte S. Willis: Robert Guthrie, MD, PhD: Clinical Chemistry / Microbiology. In: Laboratory Medicine. 40, 2009, pp. 748-749, doi : 10.1309 / LMD48N6BNZSXIPVH .

personal data
SURNAME	Guthrie, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American microbiologist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 28, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH	Marionville , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH	June 24, 1995
Place of death	Seattle , Washington

[gonzales-1] A ^b Jason Gonzales, Monte S. Willis: Robert Guthrie, MD, PhD: Clinical Chemistry / Microbiology. In: Laboratory Medicine. 40, 2009, pp. 748-749, doi : 10.1309 / LMD48N6BNZSXIPVH .