Thomas Ming Swi Chang, is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 physician and scientist.

In 1957, while an undergraduate at McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

 he invented the world's first artificial cell

Artificial cell

An artificial cell is a minimal cell from artificial parts and is an emerging technology. Until recently, most attempts have generally created only a package that can do many things a cell can do, such as transcribe and translate proteins and generate ATP but not yet a fully operational cell...

. Working with improvised materials like perfume atomizers inside his dorm room turned laboratory, Chang managed to create a permeable plastic sack that would effectively carry haemoglobin

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...

 almost as effectively as a natural blood cell

Red blood cell

Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate organism's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood flow through the circulatory system...

. He went on to complete his B.Sc.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 (1957), M.D.

Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

 (1961), and Ph.D

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 (1965) degrees at McGill. Chang's career continued as Director of the Artificial Cells and Organs Research Centre and Professor of Physiology, Medicine & Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Medicine

McGill University Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University. It was established in 1823 as the Montreal Medical Institution, and became the first faculty of McGill College in 1829; it was the first medical faculty to be established in Canada....

 at McGill University.

In the late 1960s he discovered enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

s carried by artificial cells could correct some metabolic disorders

Inborn error of metabolism

Inborn errors of metabolism comprise a large class of genetic diseases involving disorders of metabolism. The majority are due to defects of single genes that code for enzymes that facilitate conversion of various substances into others...

 and also developed charcoal-filled cells to treat drug poisoning. His work on finding a safe blood substitute

Blood substitutes

A blood substitute is a substance used to mimic and fulfill some functions of biological blood, usually in the oxygen-carrying sense...

 brought him to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, earning him an Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

.