John Jacob Abel
John Jacob Abel | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | May 26, 1938 | (aged 81)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Michigan (PhB) University of Strasbourg (MD) |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Awards | Foreign Member of the Royal Society[1] Willard Gibbs Award (1927) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biochemistry, pharmacology |
Institutions | Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
Signature | |
John Jacob Abel (19 May 1857 – 26 May 1938) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist. He established the pharmacology department at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1893, and then became America's first full-time professor of pharmacology.[2] During his time at Hopkins, he made several important medical advancements, especially in the field of hormone extraction. In addition to his laboratory work, he founded several significant scientific journals such as the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.[3]
Early life and education
John Jacob Abel was born in 1857 to George M. and Mary (Becker) Abel
After his doctorate, Abel worked mostly in clinical studies and took clinical courses, focusing on biochemistry and pharmacology. He traveled around Europe, mostly in Germany and central Europe, conducting research in biochemistry.
Career
Finishing his time in Europe, Abel returned to the University of Michigan as the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. There, he played an important role in developing the first pharmacology department in North America.[9] He only was at the University of Michigan until 1893, when William Osler of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine asked Abel to come to the school and accept a Professorship of Pharmacology.[3]
At Johns Hopkins, Abel was the chair of pharmacology and biological chemistry, until the departments split in 1908, when Abel became the chair solely of the Department of Pharmacology.[7] At Johns Hopkins, Abel performed his most groundbreaking research and held the position of chair of the department until he retired at the age of 75 in 1932.[3]
Isolation of epinephrine
Ever since his early years in Europe, Abel showed great interest in isolating pure form of internal gland hormones. The first work that led to his international reputation as a pharmacologist and biochemist was the isolation of
Devising early form of dialysis machine
Together with L.G. Rowntree and B.B. Turner, Abel devised what they called a "vividiffusion" apparatus, consisting of a series of tubes surrounded by fluid. They first demonstrated the apparatus at the Physiological Congress in Groningen in 1914.[10] By allowing arterial blood to enter at one end of the connection, and later return to circulation through the venous connection after dialysis, they were able to demonstrate the existence of free amino acids in blood. By isolating these amino acids from blood circulation, Abel conducted various subsequent researches on the structure of proteins in the blood. Not only did Abel use the apparatus for his research work, he also realized the great clinical potential such dialysis machine would have on managing the damaging effects of renal failure.[11] The vividiffusion apparatus Abel devised is the precursor to the modern day dialysis machine. He summarized his work in a paper published in 1913, "On the Removal of Diffusable Substances from the Circulating Blood by Means of Dialysis" by Transfusion Science.[12]
Crystallization of insulin
Abel's work on insulin started with an invitation from his old friend Arthur A. Noyes at California Institute of Technology. Noyes had just received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation for research on insulin, and he thought that Abel would be the right person to lead that research. After some preliminary experiments on the subject, Abel decided to take on the research, and replied to his friend, "Will attack insulin. Writing. J. J. Abel."[13] Abel invested the next few years on purifying insulin. While he was trying various means to purify insulin, he had the idea to measure sulfur content of his extracts and found that the higher the sulfur content, the greater the activity. The discovery not only significantly precipitated progress on extracting active fractions but also offered the very first concrete information on the structure of insulin—sulfur is an integral part of insulin molecules.[13] Continuing with his research on extracting insulin, in November 1925, Abel finally was able to witness one of the most beautiful sights of his life, "glistening crystals of insulin forming on the sides of a test tube".[13] While at the California Institute of Technology, Abel completed an article in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled "Crystalline Insulin" in 1926.[14] Although Abel's work received great compliments from the media and the science community, some doubted the purity of his crystals as preliminary tests revealed that they were in fact proteins.[13] The test result was contrary to the dominant view at the time on proteins—proteins were considered as unlikely to have such highly specific physiological activity shown by a hormone such as insulin.[13] In 1927, he was published in the journal Science for this work with a paper entitled "Chemistry in Relation to Biology and Medicine with Especial Reference to Insulin and Other Hormones".[15] At the time, Abel's laboratory was no doubt the center of insulin research in the United States. A lot of young scientists came to his lab and worked under Abel to study the newly crystallized hormone. Abel himself gradually withdrew from the actual experimental work on insulin after the first four years, but he continued to guide the scientists in his lab to unravel more and more about the structure of insulin molecule.[13]
Founding scientific journals
Despite his great dedication to experimentation work, Abel's historical significance is certainly not restricted to his research work. He was also the founder of a number of influential scientific journals. As more and more research was conducted in the field of biochemistry, Abel realized the importance of having a platform that allowed scientists all around the world to publish their work and report on their findings. He therefore asked his friend Dr. C. A. Herter, Professor of Pharmacology at Columbia University, for help on founding a scientific journal on biochemistry. Together as joint editors, Abel and Herter established the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The first issue of the journal appeared in 1905.[10] Motivated by the very same goal of trying to create an outlet for a wide dissemination of new scientific findings, he later founded the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in 1908.[10]
Publications
- Abel JJ, Rowntree LG, Turner BB. Plasma removal with return of corpuscles (plasmaphaeresis). The Journal of Pharmacology and experimental therapeutics Vol. V. No. 6, July, 1914. Transfusion Science. 11: 166-77.[16]
- Abel JJ, Rowntree LG, Turner BB. On the removal of diffusable substances from the circulating blood by means of dialysis. Transactions of the Association of American Physicians, 1913. Transfusion Science. 11: 164-5.[12]
- Abel JJ. Chemistry in Relation to Biology and Medicine with Especial Reference to Insulin and Other Hormones. Science, 1927. Science. 66: 337-346.[15]
- Abel JJ. Arthur Robertson Cushny And Pharmacology. Science, 1926. Science. 63: 507-515.[17]
- Abel JJ. Crystalline Insulin. 1926. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 12 (2): 132-136.[14]
- Abel JJ. Experimental and Chemical Studies of the Blood with an Appeal for more Extended Chemical Training for the Biological and Medical Investigator. Science. 1915. Science. 42: 135-147.[18]
- Abel JJ. Experimental and Chemical Studies of the Blood with an Appeal for more Extended Chemical Training for the Biological and Medical Investigator. II. Science. 1915. Science. 42: 165-178.[19]
Degrees, awards, honors
Degrees
- Ph.B. (Bachelor of Philosophy) from University of Michigan, 1883
- M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) from University of Strassburg, 1888
Honorary degrees
- M.A. (Master of Arts) from University of Michigan, 1903
- Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) from University of Michigan, 1912
- Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) from University of Pittsburgh, 1915
- LL.D. (Doctor of Law) from University of Cambridge, 1920
- Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) from Harvard University, 1925
- Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) from Yale University, 1927
- M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) from University of Lviv, Poland, 1927
- LL.D. (Doctor of Law) from University of Aberdeen, 1932[7]
Awards
- Research Corporation Prize, 1925
- Lectureship of Kober Foundation, 1925
- Willard Gibbs Gold Medal by the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society, 1927
- Gold Medal, Society of Apothecaries, London, 1928
- Conné Medal, New York Chemists' Club, 1932
- Kober Medal, 1934[7]
Honors
- Elected Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, 1912[20]
- Elected Member of the American Philosophical Society, 1857[21]
Private life
Abel married Mary Hinman in 1883. They met while he was a principal and she was a school teacher in La Porte, Indiana.[7] They had three children, one of whom was a daughter who died as an infant in 1888 in Strasbourg. The other two, George H. Abel and Robert Abel of Philadelphia and Boston, respectively, survived into adulthood. Mary Abel and John Abel both passed in 1938; Mary in January and John in May due to a coronary thrombosis.[7]
References
- .
- ^ a b c "Abel, John Jacob". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
- ^ a b c d "The John Jacob Abel Collection". Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives. Archived from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
- ISBN 978-0-8103-1041-4.
- ^ "John Jacob Abel AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMIST". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
- ISSN 0022-3565.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i MacNider, WM. deB. (1946). Biographical Memoir of John Jacob Abel. National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: Biographical Memoirs. pp. 231–238.
- ^ Fye, Bruce W. (1993). Profiles in Cardiology: H. Newell Martin. pp. 631–632.
- ^ "About Us | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor". medicine.umich.edu. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
- ^ a b c d e Macnider, WM. National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir of John Jacob Abel. The National Academies Press. pp. 11, 16, 17.
- ^ ""Abel, John Jacob." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography.". Encyclopedia.com.
- ^ PMID 10160880.
- ^ a b c d e f Jane H. Murnaghan, Paul Talalay. John Jacob Abel and the Crystallization of Insulin, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Volume 10, Number 3, pp. 340, 343, 345, 346, 368, 369. Johns Hopkins University Press.
- ^ PMID 16587069.
- ^ PMID 17834012.
- PMID 10160881.
- PMID 17739266.
- PMID 17797940.
- PMID 17758865.
- ^ "John J. Abel". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
External links
- Media related to John Jacob Abel at Wikimedia Commons
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir