Jump to content

Friedrich Miescher: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
| nationality = Swiss removed (obvious)
 
(114 intermediate revisions by 66 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Swiss biochemist (1843-1895)}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Johannes Friedrich Miescher
| name = Johannes Friedrich Miescher
|image = Friedrich Miescher.jpg
| image = Friedrich Miescher.jpg
| spouse = Maria Anna Rüsch
|image_size = 300px
| education = University of Göttingen (M.D. 1868), University of Lepzig
|caption = Friedrich Miescher
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1844|8|13}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1844|8|13}}
|birth_place = [[Basel]]
| birth_place = [[Basel, Switzerland]]
|death_date = 26 August 1895 (aged 51)
| death_date = {{death date and age |1895|8|26|df=y|1844|8|13}}
|death_place = [[Davos]]
| death_place = [[Davos, Switzerland]]
⚫
| field = [[Biology]]
|nationality = [[Switzerland]]|Swiss
⚫
| work_institutions =
⚫
|field = [[Biology]]
⚫
| known_for = Discovery of [[nucleic acid]]
⚫
|work_institutions =
|alma_mater =
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
⚫
|known_for = Discovery of [[nucleic acid]]s
|prizes =
}}
}}


'''Johannes Friedrich Miescher''' (13 August 1844 – 26 August 1895) was a Swiss physician and biologist. He was the first [[scientist]] to isolate [[nucleic acid]].
'''Johannes Friedrich Miescher''' (13 August 1844 – 26 August 1895) was a Swiss physician and biologist. He was the first [[scientist]] to isolate [[nucleic acid]] in 1869. Miescher also identified [[protamine]] and made several other discoveries.


⚫
Miescher had isolated various phosphate-rich chemicals, which he called ''nuclein'' (now [[nucleic acid]]s), from the nuclei of [[white blood cell]]s in [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]]'s laboratory at the [[University of Tübingen]], Germany,<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/> paving the way for the identification of [[DNA]] as the carrier of inheritance. The significance of the discovery, first published in 1871, was not at first apparent, and [[Albrecht Kossel]] made the initial inquiries into its chemical structure. Later, Miescher raised the idea that the nucleic acids could be involved in heredity<ref>[[Bill Bryson]], ''[[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]'', Broadway Books, 2005, p. 500.</ref> and even posited that there might be something akin to an alphabet that might explain how variation is produced.<ref>[https://www.genetics.org/content/215/2/291 Lamm, Harman, Veigl],</ref>
==Biography==


==Early life and education==
⚫
Miescher isolated various phosphate-rich chemicals, which he called ''nuclein'' (now [[nucleic acid]]s), from the nuclei of [[white blood cell]]s in 1869 in [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]]'s laboratory at the [[University of Tübingen]], [[Germany]],<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/> paving the way for the identification of [[DNA]] as the carrier of inheritance. The significance of the discovery, first published in 1871, was not at first apparent, and [[Albrecht Kossel]] made the initial inquiries into its chemical structure.<ref name="Yale_Jones_1953"/> Later, Friedrich Miescher raised the idea that the nucleic acids could be involved in heredity.<ref>[[Bill Bryson]], ''[[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]'', Broadway Books, 2005, p. 500.</ref> and even posited that there might be something akin to an alphabet that might explain how variation is produced <ref> [[[https://www.genetics.org/content/215/2/291 Lamm, Harman, Viegl]]], ''[["Before Watson and Crick in 1953 Came Friedrich Miescher in 1869]]''</ref>
⚫
Friedrich Miescher came from a scientific family; his father and his uncle held the chair of anatomy at the [[University of Basel]]. As a boy, Miescher was shy but intelligent. He had an interest in music as his father performed publicly. Miescher studied medicine at Basel, and in the summer of 1865, he worked for the organic chemist Adolf Stecker at the [[University of Göttingen]]. However, Miescher's studies were interrupted for the year when he contracted typhoid fever, leaving him hearing-impaired. Miescher received his MD in 1868.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>


==Career==
⚫
Miescher came from a scientific family; his father and his uncle held the chair of anatomy at the [[University of Basel]]. As a boy, he was shy but intelligent. He had an interest in music, and his father performed publicly. Miescher studied medicine at Basel. In the summer of 1865, Friedrich worked for the organic chemist Adolf Stecker in [[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]], but his studies were interrupted for the year when he became ill with typhoid fever, which left him hearing-impaired. However, he still received his MD in 1868.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>
⚫
Miescher felt that his partial deafness would be a disadvantage as a doctor, so he turned to physiological chemistry. Miescher originally wanted to study [[lymphocyte]]s, but was encouraged by [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]] to study [[neutrophil]]s. Miescher was interested in studying the chemistry of the [[Cell nucleus|nucleus]]. Lymphocytes were difficult to obtain in sufficient numbers to study, while neutrophils were known to be one of the main and first components in [[pus]] and could be obtained from bandages at the nearby hospital. However, the problem was washing the cells off the bandages without damaging them.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>


⚫
Miescher devised different salt solutions, eventually producing one with sodium sulfate. The cells were filtered, and since [[centrifuge]]s were not available at the time, the cells were allowed to settle to the bottom of a beaker. He then tried to isolate the nuclei free of [[cytoplasm]]. Miescher subjected the purified nuclei to an [[alkaline lysis|alkaline extraction]] followed by acidification, resulting in the formation of a precipitate that he called ''nuclein'' (now known as [[DNA]]).<ref>Miescher, Friedrich (1871) [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA441 "Ueber die chemische Zusammensetzung der Eiterzellen"] (On the chemical composition of pus cells), ''Medicinisch-chemische Untersuchungen'', '''4''' : 441–460. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA456 From p. 456:] "''Ich habe mich daher später mit meinen Versuchen an die ganzen Kerne gehalten, die Trennung der Körper, die ich einstweilen ohne weiteres Präjudiz als lösliches und unlösliches Nuclein bezeichnen will, einem günstigeren Material überlassend.''{{-"}} ("Therefore, in my experiments I subsequently limited myself to the whole nucleus, leaving to a more favorable material the separation of the substances, that for the present, without further prejudice, I will designate as soluble and insoluble nuclear material ('Nuclein').")</ref> Miescher found that this contained phosphorus and nitrogen, but not sulfur. The discovery was so unlike anything else at the time that Hoppe-Seyler repeated all of Miescher's research himself before publishing it in his journal. Miescher then went on to study physiology at Leipzig in the laboratory of Carl Ludwig for a year before being appointed professor of physiology.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>
⚫
Miescher felt that his partial deafness would be a disadvantage as a doctor, so he turned to physiological chemistry. He originally wanted to study [[lymphocyte]]s, but was encouraged by [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]] to study [[neutrophil]]s. He was interested in studying the chemistry of the [[Cell nucleus|nucleus]]. Lymphocytes were difficult to obtain in sufficient numbers to study, while neutrophils were known to be one of the main and first components in [[pus]] and could be obtained from bandages at the nearby hospital. The problem was, however, washing the cells off the bandages without damaging them.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>


While analyzing the composition of salmon sperm, Miescher also discovered the alkaline substance [[protamine]], which he published in 1874.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miescher |first1=F |title=Verhandlungen der naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel VI |date=1874 |location=Basel |pages=138–208 |language=German |chapter=Die Spermaozoen einiger Wirbeltiere. Ein Beitrag zur Histochemie}}</ref><ref name=Dahm2010>{{cite journal |last1=Dahm |first1=R |title=From discovering to understanding. Friedrich Miescher's attempts to uncover the function of DNA. |journal=EMBO Reports |date=March 2010 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=153–60 |doi=10.1038/embor.2010.14 |pmid=20168329 |pmc=2838690}}</ref> It later found use, as [[protamine sulfate]], in the stabilization of [[insulin]] ([[NPH insulin]]) and also as a reversal agent for the anticoagulant medicine [[heparin]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boer |first1=C. |last2=Meesters |first2=M.I. |last3=Veerhoek |first3=D. |last4=Vonk |first4=A.B.A. |title=Anticoagulant and side-effects of protamine in cardiac surgery: a narrative review |journal=British Journal of Anaesthesia |date=May 2018 |volume=120 |issue=5 |pages=914–927 |doi=10.1016/j.bja.2018.01.023 |pmid=29661409|s2cid=4945517 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
⚫
Miescher devised different salt solutions, eventually producing one with sodium sulfate. The cells were filtered. Since [[centrifuge]]s were not available at the time, the cells were allowed to settle to the bottom of a beaker. He then tried to isolate the nuclei free of [[cytoplasm]]. He subjected the purified nuclei to an [[alkaline lysis|alkaline extraction]] followed by acidification, resulting in the formation of a precipitate that Miescher called ''nuclein'' (now known as [[DNA]]).<ref>Miescher, Friedrich (1871) [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA441#v=onepage&q&f=false "Ueber die chemische Zusammensetzung der Eiterzellen"] (On the chemical composition of pus cells), ''Medicinisch-chemische Untersuchungen'', '''4''' : 441–460. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA456#v=onepage&q&f=false From p. 456:] "''Ich habe mich daher später mit meinen Versuchen an die ganzen Kerne gehalten, die Trennung der Körper, die ich einstweilen ohne weiteres Präjudiz als lösliches und unlösliches Nuclein bezeichnen will, einem günstigeren Material überlassend.''{{-"}} ("Therefore, in my experiments I subsequently limited myself to the whole nucleus, leaving to a more favorable material the separation of the substances, that for the present, without further prejudice, I will designate as soluble and insoluble nuclear material ('Nuclein').")</ref> He found that this contained phosphorus and nitrogen, but not sulfur. The discovery was so unlike anything else at the time that Hoppe-Seyler repeated all Miescher's research himself before publishing it in his journal. Miescher then went on to study physiology at Leipzig in the laboratory of Carl Ludwig for a year before being appointed professor of physiology.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>


Miescher and his students researched much nucleic acid chemistry, but its function remained unknown. However, his discovery played an important part in the identification of nucleic acids as the carriers of inheritance. The importance of Miescher's discovery was not apparent until [[Albrecht Kossel]] (a German physiologist specializing in the physiological chemistry of the cell and its nucleus and of proteins) carried out research on the chemical structure of nuclein.
Miescher and his students researched much nucleic acid chemistry, but its function remained unknown. However, Miescher's discovery played an important part in the identification of nucleic acids as the carriers of inheritance. The importance of his discovery was not apparent until [[Albrecht Kossel]] (a German physiologist specializing in the physiological chemistry of the cell and its nucleus and of proteins) researched the chemical structure of nuclein.<ref name="Yale_Jones_1953"/>


Friedrich Miescher is also known for demonstrating that carbon dioxide concentrations in blood regulate breathing.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008" />
Miescher is also known for demonstrating that carbon dioxide concentrations in blood regulate breathing.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008" />


==Personal life==
He died of [[tuberculosis]] in 1895 aged 51. A laboratory of the [[Max Planck Society]] in [[Tübingen]] and a research institute in [[Basel]] have been named after him.<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>
Miescher was married to Maria Anna Rüsch.<ref name=Dahm2010/> He died of [[tuberculosis]] in 1895 at the age of 51.

==Legacy==
As of 2008, two laboratories have been named after Miescher:<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008"/>
The [[Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society]] in Tübingen and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, founded in 1970 by [[Ciba-Geigy]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research |title=The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research |url=https://fmi.ch/ |access-date=2021-10-12 |website=fmi.ch}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 43: Line 46:
{{Reflist|2|refs=
{{Reflist|2|refs=


<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008">{{cite journal
<ref name="HumGen_Dahm_2008">{{cite journal
|pmid=17901982
|pmid=17901982
|date=Jan 2008
|date=Jan 2008
|author=Dahm, R
|author=Dahm, R
|title=Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research
|title=Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research
|volume=122
|volume=122
|issue=6
|issue=6
|pages=565–81
|pages=565–81
|issn=0340-6717
|issn=0340-6717
|doi=10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0
|doi=10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0
|journal=Human Genetics}}</ref>
|journal=Human Genetics|s2cid=915930
}}</ref>


<ref name="Yale_Jones_1953">{{cite journal
<ref name="Yale_Jones_1953">{{cite journal
|last1=Jones
|last1=Jones
|first1=Mary Ellen
|first1=Mary Ellen
|year=September 1953
|date=September 1953
|title=Albrecht Kossel, A Biographical Sketch
|title=Albrecht Kossel, A Biographical Sketch
|journal=Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine
|journal=Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine
|volume=26
|volume=26
|pages=80–97
|pages=80–97
|publisher=[[National Center for Biotechnology Information]]
|pmc=2599350
|pmc=2599350
|pmid=13103145
|pmid=13103145
Line 72: Line 75:


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |pmid=17901982 |date=Jan 2008 |author=Dahm, R |title=Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research |volume=122 |issue=6 |pages=565–81 |issn=0340-6717 |doi=10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0 |journal=Human Genetics}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=15680349 |date=Feb 2005 |author=Dahm, R |title=Friedrich Miescher and the discovery of DNA |volume=278 |issue=2 |pages=274–88 |issn=0012-1606 |doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.11.028 |journal=Developmental Biology|doi-access= }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=15680349 |date=Feb 2005 |author=Dahm, R |title=Friedrich Miescher and the discovery of DNA |volume=278 |issue=2 |pages=274–88 |issn=0012-1606 |doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.11.028 |journal=Developmental Biology}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=15296772 |date=Aug 2004 |author=Maderspacher, F |title=Rags before the riches: Friedrich Miescher and the discovery of DNA |volume=14 |issue=15 |pages=R608 |issn=0960-9822 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2004.07.039 |journal=Current Biology|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=15296772 |date=Aug 2004 |author=Maderspacher, F |title=Rags before the riches: Friedrich Miescher and the discovery of DNA |volume=14 |issue=15 |pages=R608 |issn=0960-9822 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2004.07.039 |journal=Current Biology|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=8500212 |date=May 1993 |author=Knill, Rl |title=Practical CO2 monitoring in anaesthesia |volume=40 |issue=5 Pt 2 |pages=R40–9 |issn=0832-610X |journal=Canadian Journal of Anesthesia |url=http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+124-38-9 |doi=10.1007/BF03020684|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=8500212 |date=May 1993 |author=Knill, Rl |title=Practical CO2 monitoring in anaesthesia |volume=40 |issue=5 Pt 2 |pages=R40–9 |issn=0832-610X |journal=Canadian Journal of Anesthesia |url=http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+124-38-9 |doi=10.1007/BF03020684|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4581278 |date=Jan 1973 |author=Merke, F |title=Forgotten fundamental physiological studies of migrating salmon by Basel's physiologist, Friedrich Miescher |volume=30 |issue=1-2 |pages=47–52 |issn=0016-9161 |journal=Gesnerus}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4581278 |date=Jan 1973 |author=Merke, F |title=Forgotten fundamental physiological studies of migrating salmon by Basel's physiologist, Friedrich Miescher |volume=30 |issue=1–2 |pages=47–52 |issn=0016-9161 |journal=[[Gesnerus]]|doi=10.1163/22977953-0300102006 |s2cid=248488146 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/18.3.217 |pmid=4908150 |date=Mar 1970 |author=James, J |title=Miescher's discoveries of 1869. A centenary of nuclear chemistry |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=217–9 |issn=0022-1554 |journal=Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry |url=http://www.jhc.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=4908150 |doi-access=free }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/18.3.217 |pmid=4908150 |date=Mar 1970 |author=James, J |title=Miescher's discoveries of 1869. A centenary of nuclear chemistry |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=217–9 |issn=0022-1554 |journal=Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4921671 |year=1970 |month= |author=Ostrowski, W |title=From nucleic acids to DNA. On the 100th anniversary of the discovery of nucleic acids by Friedrich Miescher |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=581–7 |issn=0032-5422 |journal=Postepy biochemii |url=http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+9012-00-4 }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4921671 |year=1970 |author=Ostrowski, W |title=From nucleic acids to DNA. On the 100th anniversary of the discovery of nucleic acids by Friedrich Miescher |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=581–7 |issn=0032-5422 |journal=Postepy Biochemii |url=http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+9012-00-4 }}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4910336 |date=Jan 1970 |author=De, Meuron-Landolt, M |title=Johannes Friedrich Miescher: his personality and the importance of his work |volume=25 |issue=1-2 |pages=9–24 |issn=0036-7494 |journal=Bulletin der Schweizerischen Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4910336 |date=Jan 1970 |author=De, Meuron-Landolt, M |title=Johannes Friedrich Miescher: his personality and the importance of his work |volume=25 |issue=1–2 |pages=9–24 |issn=0036-7494 |journal=Bulletin der Schweizerischen Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4908661 |date=Jan 1970 |author=Bernhard, K |title=Jonhannes Friedrich Miescher Symposium. 100th anniversary of the discovery of nucleic acids. Welcome |volume=25 |issue=1-2 |pages=32–4 |issn=0036-7494 |journal=Bulletin der Schweizerischen Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4908661 |date=Jan 1971 |author=Bernhard, K |title=Jonhannes Friedrich Miescher Symposium. 100th anniversary of the discovery of nucleic acids. Welcome |volume=25 |issue=1–2 |pages=32–4 |issn=0036-7494 |journal=Bulletin der Schweizerischen Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4903604 |date=Oct 1969 |author=Harbers, E |title=On the discovery of DNA by Friedrich Miescher 100 years ago |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=517–8 |issn=0016-8785 |journal=German medical monthly}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4903604 |date=Oct 1969 |author=Harbers, E |title=On the discovery of DNA by Friedrich Miescher 100 years ago |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=517–8 |issn=0016-8785 |journal=German Medical Monthly}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4897532 |date=Sep 1969 |author=Harbers, E |title=On the discovery of DNA by Friedrich Miescher 100 years ago |volume=94 |issue=38 |pages=1948–9 |issn=0012-0472 |journal=[[Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift]]}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=4897532 |date=Sep 1969 |author=Harbers, E |title=On the discovery of DNA by Friedrich Miescher 100 years ago |volume=94 |issue=38 |pages=1948–9 |issn=0012-0472 |journal=[[Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift]]}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=13049881 |date=Feb 1953 |author=Buess, H |title=Joh. Friedrich Miescher and the contribution of Basle physicians to the biology of the nineteenth century |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=250–61 |issn=0044-0086 |pmc=2599305 |journal=The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine}}
* {{cite journal |pmid=13049881 |date=Feb 1953 |author=Buess, H |title=Joh. Friedrich Miescher and the contribution of Basle physicians to the biology of the nineteenth century |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=250–61 |issn=0044-0086 |pmc=2599305 |journal=The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine}}
Line 91: Line 93:
| volume = 4
| volume = 4
| issue =
| issue =
| pages = 441–460
| pages = 441–460
| doi =
| doi =
| url =
| url =
}}
}}
* {{cite journal
* {{cite journal
|author = Greenstein JP
| author = Greenstein JP
| title = Friedrich Miescher, 1844-1895
| title = Friedrich Miescher, 1844-1895
| journal = The Scientific Monthly
| journal = The Scientific Monthly
| year = 1943
| year = 1943
Line 103: Line 105:
| issue = 5
| issue = 5
| pages = 523–532
| pages = 523–532
| doi =
| doi =
| jstor =18231
| jstor =18231
| bibcode = 1943SciMo..57..523G
}}
}}
* [[Meyer Friedman]] and Gerald W. Friedland, ''Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries'', {{ISBN|0-300-08278-9}}, pp.&nbsp;194–196.
* Meyer Friedman and Gerald W. Friedland, ''Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries'', {{ISBN|0-300-08278-9}}, pp.&nbsp;194–196.
* Veigl, Harman, Lamm, "[https://www.academia.edu/43316395/Friedrich_Mieschers_Discovery_in_the_Historiography_of_Genetics Friedrich Miescher's Discovery in the Historiography of Genetics]", Journal of the History of Biology 53:3, 2020


==External links==
==External links==
Line 118: Line 122:
|title=The First Discovery of DNA
|title=The First Discovery of DNA
|url=http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2008/4/the-first-discovery-of-dna
|url=http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2008/4/the-first-discovery-of-dna
|date=July–August 2008
|date=July–August 2008
|last=Dahm |first=Ralf
|last=Dahm |first=Ralf
|volume=96
⚫
}}
|issue=4
|page=320
|doi=10.1511/2008.73.3846
⚫
}}
* Wolf, George (2003). [http://www.bizgraphic.ch/miescheriana/html/the_man_who_dicovered_dna.html Friedrich Miescher, the man who discovered DNA]. U.C.Berkeley.
* Wolf, George (2003). [http://www.bizgraphic.ch/miescheriana/html/the_man_who_dicovered_dna.html Friedrich Miescher, the man who discovered DNA]. U.C.Berkeley.
* Ehud Lamm, Oren Harman, Sophie Juliane Veigl (2020). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32487691/ Before Watson and Crick in 1953 Came Friedrich Miescher in 1869]. Genetics, 2020 Jun;215(2):291-296. doi:10.1534/genetics.120.303195.


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
Line 128: Line 137:
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Basel-Stadt]]
[[Category:History of genetics]]
[[Category:Physicians from Basel-Stadt]]
[[Category:Swiss biologists]]
[[Category:Swiss biologists]]
[[Category:Swiss biochemists]]
[[Category:Swiss biochemists]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Switzerland]]
[[Category:University of Göttingen alumni]]
[[Category:University of Göttingen alumni]]
[[Category:University of Tübingen faculty]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Tübingen]]
[[Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]

Latest revision as of 18:25, 29 November 2024

Johannes Friedrich Miescher
Born(1844-08-13)13 August 1844
Basel, Switzerland
Died26 August 1895(1895-08-26) (aged 51)
Davos, Switzerland
EducationUniversity of Göttingen (M.D. 1868), University of Lepzig
Known forDiscovery of nucleic acid
SpouseMaria Anna Rüsch
Scientific career
FieldsBiology

Johannes Friedrich Miescher (13 August 1844 – 26 August 1895) was a Swiss physician and biologist. He was the first scientist to isolate nucleic acid in 1869. Miescher also identified protamine and made several other discoveries.

Miescher had isolated various phosphate-rich chemicals, which he called nuclein (now nucleic acids), from the nuclei of white blood cells in Felix Hoppe-Seyler's laboratory at the University of Tübingen, Germany,[1] paving the way for the identification of DNA as the carrier of inheritance. The significance of the discovery, first published in 1871, was not at first apparent, and Albrecht Kossel made the initial inquiries into its chemical structure. Later, Miescher raised the idea that the nucleic acids could be involved in heredity[2] and even posited that there might be something akin to an alphabet that might explain how variation is produced.[3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Friedrich Miescher came from a scientific family; his father and his uncle held the chair of anatomy at the University of Basel. As a boy, Miescher was shy but intelligent. He had an interest in music as his father performed publicly. Miescher studied medicine at Basel, and in the summer of 1865, he worked for the organic chemist Adolf Stecker at the University of Göttingen. However, Miescher's studies were interrupted for the year when he contracted typhoid fever, leaving him hearing-impaired. Miescher received his MD in 1868.[1]

Career

[edit]

Miescher felt that his partial deafness would be a disadvantage as a doctor, so he turned to physiological chemistry. Miescher originally wanted to study lymphocytes, but was encouraged by Felix Hoppe-Seyler to study neutrophils. Miescher was interested in studying the chemistry of the nucleus. Lymphocytes were difficult to obtain in sufficient numbers to study, while neutrophils were known to be one of the main and first components in pus and could be obtained from bandages at the nearby hospital. However, the problem was washing the cells off the bandages without damaging them.[1]

Miescher devised different salt solutions, eventually producing one with sodium sulfate. The cells were filtered, and since centrifuges were not available at the time, the cells were allowed to settle to the bottom of a beaker. He then tried to isolate the nuclei free of cytoplasm. Miescher subjected the purified nuclei to an alkaline extraction followed by acidification, resulting in the formation of a precipitate that he called nuclein (now known as DNA).[4] Miescher found that this contained phosphorus and nitrogen, but not sulfur. The discovery was so unlike anything else at the time that Hoppe-Seyler repeated all of Miescher's research himself before publishing it in his journal. Miescher then went on to study physiology at Leipzig in the laboratory of Carl Ludwig for a year before being appointed professor of physiology.[1]

While analyzing the composition of salmon sperm, Miescher also discovered the alkaline substance protamine, which he published in 1874.[5][6] It later found use, as protamine sulfate, in the stabilization of insulin (NPH insulin) and also as a reversal agent for the anticoagulant medicine heparin.[7]

Miescher and his students researched much nucleic acid chemistry, but its function remained unknown. However, Miescher's discovery played an important part in the identification of nucleic acids as the carriers of inheritance. The importance of his discovery was not apparent until Albrecht Kossel (a German physiologist specializing in the physiological chemistry of the cell and its nucleus and of proteins) researched the chemical structure of nuclein.[8]

Miescher is also known for demonstrating that carbon dioxide concentrations in blood regulate breathing.[1]

Personal life

[edit]

Miescher was married to Maria Anna Rüsch.[6] He died of tuberculosis in 1895 at the age of 51.

Legacy

[edit]

As of 2008, two laboratories have been named after Miescher:[1] The Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in Tübingen and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, founded in 1970 by Ciba-Geigy.[9]

See also

[edit]

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Dahm, R (Jan 2008). "Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research". Human Genetics. 122 (6): 565–81. doi:10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0. ISSN 0340-6717. PMID 17901982. S2CID 915930.
  2. ^ Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Broadway Books, 2005, p. 500.
  3. ^ Lamm, Harman, Veigl,
  4. ^ Miescher, Friedrich (1871) "Ueber die chemische Zusammensetzung der Eiterzellen" (On the chemical composition of pus cells), Medicinisch-chemische Untersuchungen, 4 : 441–460. From p. 456: "Ich habe mich daher später mit meinen Versuchen an die ganzen Kerne gehalten, die Trennung der Körper, die ich einstweilen ohne weiteres Präjudiz als lösliches und unlösliches Nuclein bezeichnen will, einem günstigeren Material überlassend." ("Therefore, in my experiments I subsequently limited myself to the whole nucleus, leaving to a more favorable material the separation of the substances, that for the present, without further prejudice, I will designate as soluble and insoluble nuclear material ('Nuclein').")
  5. ^ Miescher, F (1874). "Die Spermaozoen einiger Wirbeltiere. Ein Beitrag zur Histochemie". Verhandlungen der naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel VI (in German). Basel. pp. 138–208.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ a b Dahm, R (March 2010). "From discovering to understanding. Friedrich Miescher's attempts to uncover the function of DNA". EMBO Reports. 11 (3): 153–60. doi:10.1038/embor.2010.14. PMC 2838690. PMID 20168329.
  7. ^ Boer, C.; Meesters, M.I.; Veerhoek, D.; Vonk, A.B.A. (May 2018). "Anticoagulant and side-effects of protamine in cardiac surgery: a narrative review". British Journal of Anaesthesia. 120 (5): 914–927. doi:10.1016/j.bja.2018.01.023. PMID 29661409. S2CID 4945517.
  8. ^ Jones, Mary Ellen (September 1953). "Albrecht Kossel, A Biographical Sketch". Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 26 (1): 80–97. PMC 2599350. PMID 13103145.
  9. ^ The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research. "The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research". fmi.ch. Retrieved 2021-10-12.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Friedrich_Miescher&oldid=1260245468"