Allan Macfadyen (26 May 1860 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

– 1 March 1907 in Hampstead, London) was a Scottish

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

, a pioneer in immunization against bacterial infection.

Early life and education

The youngest of four sons of a brass founder in Glasgow, Macfadyen was the son of Archibald Macfadyen and wife Margaret, who was a daughter of D. McKinlay of Stornaway. Allan Macfadyen was educated at Dr. Bryce's collegiate school at Edinburgh from 1871. In 1878 he became a student in the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He graduated there M.B., C.M. (1883), M.D. with gold medal (1886), and BSc in hygiene (1888). He studied chemistry and bacteriology in Berne, Göttingen, and Munich.

Career

Upon his return to England, he became, from 1889 to 1892, a research scholar of the

Grocers' Company The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence. Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Compan ...

and lecturer on bacteriology at the College of State Medicine in London. The College was subsequently amalgamated with the British Institute of Preventive Medicine, of which Macfadyen was made director in 1891. (In 1898 the British Institute was renamed the Jenner Institute, and in 1903 the Jenner Institute was renamed the

Lister Institute The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, ...

.) In 1903 Macfadyen was appointed secretary of the Lister Institute's governing body as well as head of its bacteriological department. He was instrumental in planning and organising the present building of the Lister Institute on the

Chelsea Embankment Chelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of ...

. He contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

in 1902 while engaged in investigating its bacillus. From 1901 to 1904 he was

Fullerian Professor of Physiology The Fullerian Chairs at the Royal Institution in London, England, were established by John 'Mad Jack' Fuller. Fullerian Professors of Physiology & Comparative Anatomy * 1834–1837 Peter Mark Roget * 1837–1838 Robert Edmond Grant * 1841–1844 ...

at the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

. In 1905 he resigned his official position at the Royal Institution to devote himself exclusively to original work. Macfadyen worked on

endotoxin Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), now more commonly known as endotoxin, is a collective term for components of the outermost membrane of the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria, such as '' E. coli'' and ''Salmonella'' with a common structural archit ...

s of certain bacteria, such as ''

Vibrio cholerae ''Vibrio cholerae'' is a species of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-negative, Facultative anaerobic organism, facultative anaerobe and Vibrio, comma-shaped bacteria. The bacteria naturally live in Brackish water, brackish or saltwater where they att ...

'' and ''

Salmonella enterica ''Salmonella enterica'' (formerly ''Salmonella choleraesuis'') is a rod-shaped, flagellate, facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacterium and a species of the genus ''Salmonella''. It is divided into six subspecies, arizonae (IIIa), diarizonae ...

''. To obtain these endotoxins Macfadyen ground up bacteria, rendered brittle by freezing with liquid nitrogen to –190 °C. Sir

James Dewar Sir James Dewar ( ; 20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studie ...

collaborated with him on the use of liquid nitrogen. Macfadyen and Dewar proved that some bacteria retain their bioactivity after freezing to –250 °C. Macfadyen showed that injecting small doses of bacterial endotoxins into experimental animals made them immune to infection by the corresponding living bacteria. Sydney Donville Rowland assisted him in much of the research on endotoxins. Macfadyen also investigated thermophilic bacteria. Macfadyen and Joseph Edwin Barnard did research on

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorgani ...

in bacteria.

Death

After he resigned his position at the Royal Institution he accidentally infected himself with typhoid fever, resulting in his death. His widow, Marie, was the daughter of Professor Bartling of Göttingen.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macfadyen, Allan 1860 births 1907 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish bacteriologists Fullerian Professors of Physiology

Early life and education

Career

Death

See also

References

External links