What is Rodney R. Porter birthday?

Rodney R. Porter was born at 1917-10-08

When was Rodney R. Porter died?

Rodney R. Porter was died at 1985-09-06

Which age was Rodney R. Porter died?

Rodney R. Porter was died at age 67

Where is Rodney R. Porter's birth place?

Rodney R. Porter was born in Newton-le-Willows, United Kingdom

What is Rodney R. Porter nationalities?

Rodney R. Porter's nationalities is British

What is Rodney R. Porter's cause of dead?

Rodney R. Porter dead because of Accident

How famous is Rodney R. Porter?

Rodney R. Porter is famouse as Biochemist

Rodney R. Porter - Biochemists, Family and Life

Home › British › Rodney R. PorterOctober 8, 1917356 views

Rodney R. Porter Biography Stories Embed this Biography stories

Table of contents

Personal Details
Photo
Overview
Awards
Timeline
FAQ

British Scientists Immunologists Biochemists Libra Celebrities

Rodney R. Porter's Personal Details

Rodney Robert Porter was a Nobel Prize winning English biochemist who won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Information	Detail
Birthday	October 8, 1917
Died on	September 6, 1985
Nationality	British
Famous	Scientists, Immunologists, Biochemists
Cause of death	Accident
Birth Place	Newton-le-Willows, United Kingdom
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Libra
Born in	Newton-le-Willows, United Kingdom
Famous as	Biochemist
Died at Age	67

// Famous Scientists

Juliane Koepcke

Juliane Koepcke is a German-Peruvian biologist, who was the lone survivor among the 92 passengers and crew of the ill-fated LANSA Flight 508 that crashed in the Peruvian rainforest on 24 December 1971. Know more about her life in this biography.

Henry Cavendish

Henry Cavendish was a theoretical chemist and physicist, renowned for discovery of hydrogen and calculation of the mass of earth. To know more about his childhood, profile, timeline and career read on

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a Russian rocket scientist and a pioneer of astronautics. This biography provides detailed information about his childhood, family, personal life, career, achievements, etc.

Who is Rodney R. Porter?

Rodney Robert Porter was a Nobel Prize winning English biochemist who, along with Gerald M. Edelman, won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The duo won the award for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies. Porter was fascinated with science from an early age. He later graduated from the University of Liverpool with biochemistry and then served in the British Army during the Second World War. Soon after being discharged from the army, he enrolled at the University of Cambridge, to earn his doctorate. His dissertation was on methods of seeking the active sites of the antibodies, a subject on which he had worked almost throughout his life. He established that an antibody, also known as immunoglobulin, was shaped like a Y and was made up of four chains of amino acids. He also established that they consisted of three domains, two of which had the capacity to bind the antigen, while the third segment linked the two heavy chains together. Later, he created a model of the antibody. However, Gerald Edelman, working separately on the same topic, preceded him in this. Interestingly, they were never competitors, but drew upon each other’s work. Together they founded the field of molecular immunology, which had a far reaching influence on medical science.

// Famous Immunologists

Georges J. F. Kohler

Georges J. F. Kohler was a German immunologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984. Check this biography to get details about his life, profile and timeline.

Cesar Milstein

Cesar Milstein was an Argentinian biochemist who received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of monoclonal antibody. Explore this biography to get details about his life, career and scientific discoveries.

Susumu Tonegawa

Susumu Tonegawa is a Japanese molecular biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987. This biography of Susumu Tonegawa provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.

Childhood & Early Life

Rodney Robert Porter was born on 8 October 1917, in Newton-le-Willows, a market town located midway between Liverpool and Manchester. His father, Joseph L. Porter, was a railway clerk. His mother’s name was Isobel Reese Porter. He was the only child of his parents.

From an early age, Rodney Porter was fascinated by science and was especially interested in chemistry. He had his secondary education at Ashton-in-Makerfield Grammar School, located in Ashton-in-Makerfiel, Greater Manchester, passing out from there in 1935.

Subsequently, he entered the University of Liverpool, earning his B.S degree in biochemistry in 1939. As the Second World War set in, he joined the British Army serving in the Royal Artillery, the Royal Engineers, and the Royal Army Service Corps respectively and took part in the North African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns.

After being discharged in 1946, Porter enrolled at University of Cambridge as a graduate student. Inspired by Karl Landsteiner’s, ‘The Specificity of Serological Reactions’ (1936), he decided to study antibodies.

Working under Frederick Sanger, the two-time Nobel Prize winner, Porter wrote his dissertation on methods of seeking antibodies' active sites; finally receiving his PhD degree in 1948. His doctorate thesis was titled ‘The free amino groups of proteins’.

Career

After receiving his PhD in 1948, Porter spent one more year at the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral fellow.

In 1949, he joined the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill as scientific staff and remained there till 1960. Here, Porter continued his research on antibodies, which he had started as a doctoral.

Until then, it was only known that these antibodies, also referred as immunoglobulin, were groups of proteins that played an important role in defending our body against infections and diseases and that they are found in our blood. Otherwise, scientists had very little knowledge about their nature and mechanism of action.

Porter began by studying the molecular structure of antibodies. Subsequently, he decided to split these antibodies in order to identify those parts, which were responsible for specific reactivity. He was especially interested on chromatographic methods of fractionation.

Sometime in 1958-1959, Porter and his team treated the antibodies with a protein-splitting enzyme called papain under controlled condition. The treatment divided the antibody into three functionally different segments. He then began to study each part.

In 1960, Porter left National Institute for Medical Research to join St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London University, as Pfizer Professor of Immunology. Here, he continued his work on the separated segments of the antibody.

Subsequently, he found that out of the three segments in an antibody, two were quite identical, while the third one was functionally different. He also found that these identical sections had the capacity to bind the antigen, while the third section possessed other biological characteristics, but lacked the binding capacity.

In 1962, he put forward the peptide chain structure of antibodies. He established that these antibodies were composed of four chains of amino acids; two of which were identical light chains while the other two were identical heavy chains. He then proceeded to create a model of the antibody.

In 1967, Porter once more made a move and joined the University of Oxford as Whitley Professor of Biochemistry. He also chaired the Department of Biochemistry and was created a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Here too, he continued working on antibodies.

Finally in 1969, Porter was able to create a complete model of an antibody, comprising of 1300 amino acids. However, American scientist, Gerald Edelman, working separately on the same subject, preceded him marginally in creating this model. Yet, Porter’s contribution to the study of immunoglobulin was held in high esteem and earned him the Nobel Prize.

Porter next collaborated with other scientists such as Kenneth BM Reid, Robert Sim and Duncan Campbell to know more about the Complement Proteins associated with defense against infection. He kept on working at the University of Oxford till his death in 1985.

Major Works

Porter was first to recognize that antibodies had a Y-shaped structure. He was also the first to use enzyme papain to break it off at the point of branching and split it up into three segments. However, his main credit lay in identifying the antibody-binding (Fab) and the antibody tail (Fc) regions of the immunoglobulin

Although he was preceded by Gerald Edelman in creating an exact replica of an antibody, his contribution was no less significant. In fact, while working on the problem, the two scientists often drew upon each other’s work. It can be safely said that although they worked separately they together deduced the structure of the antibody.

Awards & Achievements

In 1966, Porter received the Gairdner Foundation International Award for outstanding contribution to medical science.

In 1972, Rodney R. Porter and Gerald Edelman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies".

In 1973, he received the Royal Medal "in recognition of his penetrating investigations on the structure of immunoglobulins."

In 1983, he received Copley Medal "in recognition of his elucidation of the structure of immunoglobulins and of the reactions involved in activating the complement system of proteins".

He was named Order of the Companions of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II on 15 June, 1985,.

Personal Life & Legacy

In 1948, Rodney R. Porter married Julia Frances New Porter. The couple had five children; two sons, Nigel and Tim Porter, and three daughters, Susan, Ruth and Helen Porter.

On 6 September 1985, Porter died in a road accident near Winchester, Hampshire. He was only 67 years old then and was survived by his wife and five children.

// Famous Biochemists

Robert Huber

Robert Huber is a German biochemist and Nobel Laureate. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline.

Charles Best

Charles Best was a great scientist and a renowned physiologist who is remembered for being the co-discoverer of insulin. Read this biography to learn about his profile, childhood, life and timeline.

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American professor of biochemistry and a renowned author of science fiction and popular science books. Read this biography to know more about his life.

Rodney R. Porter's awards

Year	Name	Award
Other
0	1972 - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
0	1983 - Copley Medal
0	1966 - Gairdner Foundation International Award

Rodney R. Porter biography timelines

// 1300 To 1969
Finally in 1969, Porter was able to create a complete model of an antibody, comprising of 1300 amino acids. However, American scientist, Gerald Edelman, working separately on the same subject, preceded him marginally in creating this model. Yet, Porter’s contribution to the study of immunoglobulin was held in high esteem and earned him the Nobel Prize.
// 8th Oct 1917
Rodney Robert Porter was born on 8 October 1917, in Newton-le-Willows, a market town located midway between Liverpool and Manchester. His father, Joseph L. Porter, was a railway clerk. His mother’s name was Isobel Reese Porter. He was the only child of his parents.
// 1935
From an early age, Rodney Porter was fascinated by science and was especially interested in chemistry. He had his secondary education at Ashton-in-Makerfield Grammar School, located in Ashton-in-Makerfiel, Greater Manchester, passing out from there in 1935.
// 1936 To 1946
After being discharged in 1946, Porter enrolled at University of Cambridge as a graduate student. Inspired by Karl Landsteiner’s, ‘The Specificity of Serological Reactions’ (1936), he decided to study antibodies.
// 1939
Subsequently, he entered the University of Liverpool, earning his B.S degree in biochemistry in 1939. As the Second World War set in, he joined the British Army serving in the Royal Artillery, the Royal Engineers, and the Royal Army Service Corps respectively and took part in the North African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns.
// 1948
Working under Frederick Sanger, the two-time Nobel Prize winner, Porter wrote his dissertation on methods of seeking antibodies' active sites; finally receiving his PhD degree in 1948. His doctorate thesis was titled ‘The free amino groups of proteins’.
// 1948
After receiving his PhD in 1948, Porter spent one more year at the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral fellow.
// 1948
In 1948, Rodney R. Porter married Julia Frances New Porter. The couple had five children; two sons, Nigel and Tim Porter, and three daughters, Susan, Ruth and Helen Porter.
// 1949 To 1960
In 1949, he joined the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill as scientific staff and remained there till 1960. Here, Porter continued his research on antibodies, which he had started as a doctoral.
// 1958 To 1959
Sometime in 1958-1959, Porter and his team treated the antibodies with a protein-splitting enzyme called papain under controlled condition. The treatment divided the antibody into three functionally different segments. He then began to study each part.
// 1960
In 1960, Porter left National Institute for Medical Research to join St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London University, as Pfizer Professor of Immunology. Here, he continued his work on the separated segments of the antibody.
// 1962
In 1962, he put forward the peptide chain structure of antibodies. He established that these antibodies were composed of four chains of amino acids; two of which were identical light chains while the other two were identical heavy chains. He then proceeded to create a model of the antibody.
// 1966
In 1966, Porter received the Gairdner Foundation International Award for outstanding contribution to medical science.
// 1967
In 1967, Porter once more made a move and joined the University of Oxford as Whitley Professor of Biochemistry. He also chaired the Department of Biochemistry and was created a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Here too, he continued working on antibodies.
// 1972
In 1972, Rodney R. Porter and Gerald Edelman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies".
// 1973
In 1973, he received the Royal Medal "in recognition of his penetrating investigations on the structure of immunoglobulins."
// 1983
In 1983, he received Copley Medal "in recognition of his elucidation of the structure of immunoglobulins and of the reactions involved in activating the complement system of proteins".
// 1985
Porter next collaborated with other scientists such as Kenneth BM Reid, Robert Sim and Duncan Campbell to know more about the Complement Proteins associated with defense against infection. He kept on working at the University of Oxford till his death in 1985.
// 15th Jun 1985
He was named Order of the Companions of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II on 15 June, 1985,.
// 6th Sep 1985
On 6 September 1985, Porter died in a road accident near Winchester, Hampshire. He was only 67 years old then and was survived by his wife and five children.

// Famous British peoples

Rodney R. Porter's FAQ

What is Rodney R. Porter birthday?
Rodney R. Porter was born at 1917-10-08
When was Rodney R. Porter died?
Rodney R. Porter was died at 1985-09-06
Which age was Rodney R. Porter died?
Rodney R. Porter was died at age 67
Where is Rodney R. Porter's birth place?
Rodney R. Porter was born in Newton-le-Willows, United Kingdom
What is Rodney R. Porter nationalities?
Rodney R. Porter's nationalities is British
What is Rodney R. Porter's cause of dead?
Rodney R. Porter dead because of Accident
What is Rodney R. Porter's sun sign?
Rodney R. Porter is Libra
How famous is Rodney R. Porter?
Rodney R. Porter is famouse as Biochemist

Rodney R. Porter - Biochemists, Family and Life