Michael Abercrombie
| Michael Abercrombie | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 August 1912 Dymock, Gloucestershire, UK |
| Died |
28 May 1979 (aged 66) Little Shelford, Cambridge, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | developmental and cell biology |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge, UK; University of Birmingham, UK; University College London, UK; University of Oxford, UK |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Influences | J. Z. Young; Honor B. Fell |
| Spouse | Minnie Louie (Jane) Johnson |
Michael Abercrombie FRS[1] (14 August 1912 – 28 May 1979) was a British cell biologist and embryologist. He was one of four children of the poet Lascelles Abercrombie.
Education
Abercrombie went to school at Liverpool College and then Leeds Grammar School. In 1931 he entered Queen's College, University of Oxford, to study Zoology supported by a Hastings scholarship. He was awarded a first class B. Sc. degree in 1934.
Scientific career
He moved to the Strangeways Research Laboratory at the University of Cambridge to undertake doctoral research.[2] In 1938 was employed at University of Birmingham as a lecturer, while also holding a research fellowship at Queen's College, University of Oxford. At Birmingham he met another lecturer, Minnie Johnson, whom he married on 17 July 1939. He was classified as unfit for military service in the second world war and moved to University of Oxford to work on wound healing and nerve regeneration until 1943, then returned to Birmingham.
In 1947 he and his wife moved to the anatomy and zoology departments at University College London.[3] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1958. He finally became director of the Strangeways Research Laboratory at Cambridge from 1970 until his death. Here Abercrombie studied cell population growth and behaviour.
He notably discovered that animal cells moving through tissue culture will halt when they come into contact with another cell of the same type, with the important exception of cancer cells. This discovery led to new interest and research into the dynamics and growth of cancer cells.
Abercrombie is also known for editing and co-founding the Penguin New Biology textbook. He was one of the founders and first editor (1953–62) of Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology (renamed Development in 1987).
References
- ↑ Medawar, P. (1980). "Michael Abercrombie. 14 August 1912-28 May 1979". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 26: 1–0. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1980.0001.
- ↑ Bellairs, Ruth (2000). "Michael Abercrombie (1912-1979)". Int. J. Dev. Biol. 44: 23–28. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ↑ "Michael Abercrombie" (PDF). Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Bullock, Alan (1983). "Michael Abercrombie". In Woodings, R.B. 20th Century Culture: A Biographical Companion. pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-06-015248-6.