Gilbert Smithson Adair
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Smithson Adair FRS
(1896–1979) was an early protein
scientist who used osmotic pressure
measurements to establish that hemoglobin
was a tetramer under physiological conditions. This conclusion led him to be the first to identify cooperative binding
, in the context of oxygen binding to hemoglobin.
, England and was largely home-schooled. Entering King's College, Cambridge
in 1915, he graduated with a first class degree in natural sciences in 1917. During the war, he worked on the Food Investigation Board, which sought methods for preserving food on cargo ships. In 1920, he became a research student at King's College, and was made an official Fellow in 1928, granting him five years to devote to research. In 1931, he became assistant director of the Physiological Laboratory in Cambridge. He was a Reader in Biophysics from 1945 until his retirement in 1963. Adair was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1939.
As an incidental historical note, Adair provided the purified hemoglobin that Max Perutz
used for the first structure determination of any protein (by X-ray crystallography).
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(1896–1979) was an early protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
scientist who used osmotic pressure
Osmotic pressure
Osmotic pressure is the pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of water across a semipermeable membrane....
measurements to establish that hemoglobin
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
was a tetramer under physiological conditions. This conclusion led him to be the first to identify cooperative binding
Cooperative binding
In biochemistry, a macromolecule exhibits cooperative binding if its affinity for its ligand changes with the amount of ligand already bound.Cooperative binding is a special case of allostery. Cooperative binding requires that the macromolecule have more than one binding site, since cooperativity...
, in the context of oxygen binding to hemoglobin.
Personal life
Adair was born in 1896 in WhitehavenWhitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, England and was largely home-schooled. Entering King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
in 1915, he graduated with a first class degree in natural sciences in 1917. During the war, he worked on the Food Investigation Board, which sought methods for preserving food on cargo ships. In 1920, he became a research student at King's College, and was made an official Fellow in 1928, granting him five years to devote to research. In 1931, he became assistant director of the Physiological Laboratory in Cambridge. He was a Reader in Biophysics from 1945 until his retirement in 1963. Adair was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1939.
As an incidental historical note, Adair provided the purified hemoglobin that Max Perutz
Max Perutz
Max Ferdinand Perutz, OM, CH, CBE, FRS was an Austrian-born British molecular biologist, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with John Kendrew, for their studies of the structures of hemoglobin and globular proteins...
used for the first structure determination of any protein (by X-ray crystallography).