Marjorie MacFarlane explained
Marjorie Giffen MacFarlane (1904–1973) was a British physiologist and biochemist known for her research into anaerobic infection.
Life
She was born in Hartlepool in 1904.[1] She gained a BSc in physiology from the University of St Andrews in 1926, and then a DSc from the University of London.[2] MacFarlane then joined the staff of the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine. She served as secretary of the Anaerobic Wound Infections sub-committee there and was a prolific researcher and publisher of scientific articles, including discovering and characterising several toxins for the first time.[3] [4] [5] One of her most significant discoveries came in 1941 when, along with her colleague B.C.J.G. Knight, she isolated the toxin of Clostridium welchii and showed that it was an enzyme.[6] [7] This was the first time it had been demonstrated that a toxin could attack cell membranes in this way, and opened up the possibility of developing an anti-toxin to combat this bacterium, which had been one of the main causes of gas gangrene in World War I.[8]
Along with her colleagues Harriette Chick and Margaret Hume, she published a history of the Lister Institute in 1971.[9]
She died suddenly in Hartlepool on 17 July 1973.
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Obituaries from the Times . 1971 . Newspaper Archive Developments Limited . 978-0-903713-97-9 . 326 . en.
- Book: Who's who of British Scientists . 1964 . Ohio University Press . 949 . en.
- Book: Research . Committee of Privy Council for Medical . Medical Research in War: Report of the Medical Research Council for the Years 1939-45 . Britain) . Medical Research Council (Great . 1947 . H.M. Stationery Office . 414 . en.
- Book: Gurr, M. I. . Lipid Biochemistry: An Introduction . 2012-12-06 . Springer Science & Business Media . 978-94-009-5907-1 . en.
- Book: Alouf . Joseph E. . The Comprehensive Sourcebook of Bacterial Protein Toxins . Ladant . Daniel . Popoff . Michel R. . 2005-12-20 . Elsevier . 978-0-08-045698-0 . 9 . en.
- Book: Lax, Alistair J. . Toxin: The cunning of bacterial poisons . 2005-10-27 . OUP Oxford . 978-0-19-157850-2 . en.
- Book: Cameron, Gordon Roy . New Pathways in Cellular Pathology . 1956 . E. Arnold . 16; 71 . en.
- Book: Hall, Kersten T. . Insulin: The Crooked Timber : a History from Thick Brown Muck to Wall Street Gold . 2022 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-285538-1 . 166 . en.
- Book: Chick . Harriette . War on disease: a history of the Lister Institute . Hume . Margaret . MacFarlane . Marjorie . 1971 . Andre Deutsch . en.
