Torbjörn Caspersson

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Torbjörn Oskar Caspersson (born October 15, 1910 in Motala , † December 7, 1997 ) was a Swedish cell biologist and geneticist .

Life

He studied medicine and biophysics at Stockholm University and obtained his MD in 1936.

With his teacher, the biochemist Einar Hammarsten (1889–1968; who had worked with George de Hevesy at the Karolinska Institute ) and Rudolf Signer , he studied the viscosity and birefringence of DNA solutions; beforehand, they separated the DNA from residues of the denatured proteins by high pressure filtration. Since the beginning of the 1930s he developed the technique of recording UV absorption spectra on nucleic acids and UV microscopy of cells. In 1934 he and Hammarsten showed that DNA is a polymer. He provided William Astbury with DNA samples.

Caspersson worked in the Physiological-Chemical Department of the Carolinian Institute in Stockholm.

In 1936 he examined the genetic material in the cell with a monochromatic UV microscope, which he subsequently developed.

In 1937 he brought a DNA sample that he had isolated from calf thymus to Rudolf Signer in Bern. They described the macromolecular character of the nucleic acid. At that time the tetranucleotide hypothesis of Phoebus Levene of the Rockefeller Institute still prevailed .

Around 1940 he observed in collaboration with Jack Schultz (1904–1971) from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena - similar to the embryologist Jean Brachet in Brussels - a correlation between the synthesis of proteins and the amount of cytoplasmic ribonucleic acid in metabolically active cells.

From 1944 to 1977 he was a professor at the Karolinska Institute. His working group developed the commercial universal microspectrophotometer (UMSP) with the Carl Zeiss company in Oberkochen . The device consisted of two microscopes; One was the absorbing (biological) object, the other provided the value of the full monochromatic light flux.

In 1970 he and colleagues presented a method of staining chromosomes in such a way that they show specific banding patterns. In the same year he was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

In 1971 Caspersson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1974 to the American Philosophical Society . In 1973 he received the Schleiden Medal of the Leopoldina . In 1979 he received the Balzan Prize for Biology for his findings on protein metabolism and nucleic acids, for microscopy in the UV range, for the method for identifying specific zones on individual chromosomes. The latter became a new tool in evolutionary research. In 1988 he was awarded the William Allan Award .

Publications

  • To know the optics of white brine; III. The optical conditions during coagulation ; In: Colloid & Polymer Science ; 1933, doi: 10.1007 / BF01824493 .
  • Pressure filtration of thymonucleic acid ; In: Biochemische Zeitschrift , Volume 270, 1934
  • Methods for physical analysis of cell structure ; In: Advances in Zoology ; 1934
  • Molcular shape and size of thymonucleic acid ; with Signer and Hammersten; In: Nature ; 141, 1938, p. 122
  • Nucleic acid metabolism of the chromosomes in relation to gene reproduction ; In: Nature ; 142, 1938, pp. 294-295
  • The localization of the adenylic acids in striated muscle fibers ; 1942
  • Studies on protein metabolism in the cells of epithelial tumors ; 1942
  • Cell growth and cell function. Norton, New York 1950
  • Cytochemical aspects of the problem of tumor growth. The morphological precursors of cancer. In: Proceedings Intern. Conf. Univ. Perugia ; 1961
  • Caspersson T. and Lomakka Gösta: Scanning microscopy techniques for high resolution quantitative cytochemistry In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences . 97/1962, pp. 449-463.
  • Carlson Leon, Caspersson T., Foley GE, Kudynowski Jan, Lomakka Gösta, Simonsson E., Sören L .: The application of quantitative cytochemical techniques to the study of individual mammalian chromosomes. In: Experimental Cell Research . 31/1963, pp. 589-594.
  • Auer Gert, Eriksson E., Azavedo E., Caspersson T., Wallgren A .: Prognostic significance of nuclear DNA content in mammary adenocarcinomas in humans. In: Cancer Research . 44/1984, pp. 394-396.
  • History of the development of cytophotometry from 1935 to the present. In: Analytical and Quantitative Cytology and Histology. 9/1987, pp. 2-6.

literature

  • Caspersson Olle: Quantitative cytochemical studies on normal, malignant and atypical cell populations from the human uterine cervix. In: Acta Cytologica. 8/1964, pp. 45-60.
  • Zimmer Hans-Georg: Microphotometry. In: Molecular Biology, Biochemistry an Biophysics, Vol. 14: Neuhoff V. (ed.): Micromethods in Molecular Biology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York 1973, pp. 297-328.
  • Piller Horst: Microscope Photometry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York 1977. ISBN 3-540-08094-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Read "Biographical Memoirs: V.47" at NAP.edu . ( nap.edu [accessed August 5, 2020]).
  2. ↑ Hans-Jörg Rheinberger: Brief history of molecular biology ; 1995; at mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de (PDF file; 107 kB)
  3. ↑ Caspersson Torbjörn and Lomakka Gösta: Recent progress in quantitative cytochemistry: Instrumentation and results. In: Wied George L. and Bahr Gunter F. (ed.): Introduction to quantitative cytochemistry - II. Academic Press, New York and London 1970, pp. 27-56.
  4. ↑ Caspersson T., Zech Lore, Johansson C., Modest EJ: Identification of human chromosomes by DNA-binding fluorescent agents. In: Chromosoma. 30/1970, pp. 215-227.
  5. ↑ Caspersson T., Lomakka Gösta, Zech Lore: The 24 fluorescence patterns of the human metaphase chromosomes - distinguishing characters and variability. In: Hereditas. 67/1972, pp. 89-102.
  6. ↑ Member History: Torbjörn Caspersson. American Philosophical Society, accessed June 1, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Caspersson, Torbjorn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Caspersson, Torbjörn Oskar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish cell biologist and geneticist
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Motala
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1997