Sir Peter Brian Medawar (February 28, 1915 – October 2, 1987) was a Brazilian-born English scientist best known for his work on how the immune system rejects or accepts organ transplants. He was co-winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... The immune system is the system of specialised cells and organs that protect an organism from outside biological influences. ... An organ transplant is the transplantation of a whole or partial organ from one body to another (or from a donor site on the patients own body), for the purpose of replacing the recipients damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor site. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Sir Frank MacFarlane Burnet (born September 3, 1899 in Traralgon, Victoria; died August 31, 1985) was an Australian biologist. ...

Early years

Medawar was born on February 28, 1915, in Rio de Janeiro of a British mother and a Lebanese father. Medawar was educated at Marlborough College, England, where he went in 1928. Leaving this College in 1932, he went to Magdalen College, Oxford, to study zoology under Professor J. Z. Young where he gained admission of Christopher Welch Scholarship and senior Demyship to back up his scientific research. After taking his bachelor's degree at Oxford, Medawar worked for a time at Sir Howard Florey's School of Pathology at Oxford and there became interested in research in fields of biology that are related to medicine. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Ipanema beach, in the South Zone, immortalised by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Morais song The Girl from Ipanema Cristo Redentor, the famous Christ the Redeemer statue at the top of the Corcovado mountain A NASA satellite image of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in... Marlborough College is a British boarding school in the county of Wiltshire, founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, although it now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. ... College name Magdalen College Named after Mary Magdalene Established 1458 Sister College Magdalene College President Professor David Clary FRS JCR President Iain Anstess Undergraduates 395 Graduates 230 Homepage Boatclub Magdalen College (pronounced ) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston, OM, FRS, (September 24, 1898 – February 21, 1968) was a pharmacologist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role in the extraction of penicillin. ...

Early research

Medawar's earlier research, done at Oxford, was on tissue culture, the regeneration of peripheral nerves and the mathematical analysis of the changes of shape of organisms that occur during this development. During the early stages of the Second World War he was asked by the Medical Research Council to investigate why that skin taken from one human will not form a permanent graft on the skin of another person,and this work enabled him to establish theorems of transplantation immunity which formed the basis of his further work on this subject. His involvement with transplant research began in 1949, when Burnet advanced the hypothesis that during embryonic life and immediately after birth, cells gradually acquire the ability to distinguish between their own tissue substances and unwanted cells and foreign material. A tissue culture is the growth of cells (tissue) separate from the organism. ... The peripheral nervous system or PNS, is part of the nervous system,and I have no clue what it does. ... Analysis is the generic name given to any branch of mathematics which depends upon the concepts of limits and convergence, and studies closely related topics such as continuity, integration, differentiability and transcendental functions. ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a living being. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Current MRC logo The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a UK organisation dedicated to promot[ing] the balanced development of medical and related biological research in the UK. Organisation The MRC is one of seven Research Councils and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Office of Science and... Diagram of the layers of human skin In zootomy and dermatology, skin is an organ of the integumentary system composed of a layer of tissues that protect underlying muscles and organs. ... Skin Graft is an influential contemporary no wave, noise rock, art punk, rock label based in Chicago. ... An organ transplant is the transplantation of an organ (or part of one) from one body to another, for the purpose of replacing the recipients damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor. ... Embryos (and one tadpole) of the wrinkled frog (Rana rugosa). ... Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and are sometimes called the building blocks of life. ... Biological tissue is a substance made up of cells that perform a similar function. ...

Outcome of Research

Medawar was awarded his Nobel Prize in 1960 with Burnet for their work in tissue grafting which is the basis of organ transplants and their discovery of acquired immunological tolerance. This work was used in dealing with skin grafts required after burns. Medawar's work resulted in a shift of emphasis in the science of immunology from one that attempts to deal with the fully developed immunity mechanism to one that attempts to alter the immunity mechanism itself, as in the attempt to suppress the body's rejection of organ transplants. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Sir Frank MacFarlane Burnet (born September 3, 1899 in Traralgon, Victoria; died August 31, 1985) was an Australian biologist. ... An organ transplant is the transplantation of a whole or partial organ from one body to another (or from a donor site on the patients own body), for the purpose of replacing the recipients damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor site. ... Skin Graft is an influential contemporary no wave, noise rock, art punk, rock label based in Chicago. ... Evolution of a 2nd degree burn — One hour Evolution of a 2nd degree burn — One day Evolution of a 2nd degree burn — two days This article describes a type of injury. ... Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ... Organ rejection is a process by which the immune system of the recipient of a transplant attacks the transplanted organ. ...

Achievements

Medawar was professor of zoology at the University of Birmingham (1947-51) and the University College London (1951-62), in 1962 he was given the position of the director of the National Institute for Medical Research, professor of experimental medicine at the Royal Institution (1977-83), and president of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School (1981-87). Medawar was a scientist of great inventiveness who was interested in many other subjects including opera, philosophy and cricket. He was a writer of great fluency, clarity and wit. His books are among the very best examples of a great scientist explaining the beauty and meaning of science in a manner valuable to fellow scientists as well as to laymen. His books include The Art of the Soluble, a book of essays, some later reprinted in Pluto's Republic, Advice to a Young Scientist, Aristotle to Zoos (with his wife Jean Shinglewood Taylor), and his last, in 1986, Memoirs of a Thinking Radish, a brief autobiography. He was knighted in 1965 and awarded the Order of Merit in 1981. Medawar died in 1987. The University of Birmingham is the oldest of three universities in the English city of Birmingham. ... University College London, commonly known as UCL, is one of the colleges that make up the University of London. ... The National Institute For Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a fairly large medical institute situated in rural Mill Hill, England. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... These five broad types of question are called analytical or logical, epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic respectively. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... For other Orders see Order of Merit (disambiguation). ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about:

Peter Medawar

• Summary article from Britannica.com
• Article on Encyclopedia.com
• Biography from Sci-Quest Journal
• Magdalen College Oxford, biography of Peter Medawar
• Biography on Nobel Prize website