Bert Geoffrey Achong (6 December 1928 – 20 November 1996) was a Trinidadian-born

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

known for co-discovering the

Epstein–Barr virus The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), also known as human herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4), is one of the nine known Herpesviridae#Human herpesvirus types, human herpesvirus types in the Herpesviridae, herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in ...

through use of

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

Career

Achong was born in Trinidad and Tobago and was of

Chinese descent Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

. After excelling in school in Trinidad and Tobago, he was awarded the Jerningham Gold Medal and the Colonial Scholarship to study in Europe. He moved to Europe at 18 and enrolled at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, where he received his medical degree in 1953. In 1955 he moved to London, and worked at

Lambeth Hospital Lambeth Hospital is a mental health facility in Landor Road, South London. It was previously known as the "Landor Road hospital" and is now operated by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and is affiliated with King's College Lond ...

in London in Clinical Pathology. In 1963, he joined

Michael Anthony Epstein Sir Michael Anthony Epstein (18 May 1921 – 6 February 2024) was a British pathologist and academic. He was one of the discoverers of the Epstein–Barr virus, along with Yvonne Barr and Bert Achong. Early life Epstein was born in London on ...

's research group at

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

. He moved with Epstein to the Department of Pathology at

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

in 1968, where he was a popular lecturer on

cellular pathology Cytopathology (from Greek , ''kytos'', "a hollow"; , ''pathos'', "fate, harm"; and , ''-logia'') is a branch of pathology that studies and diagnoses diseases on the cellular level. The discipline was founded by George Nicolas Papanicolaou in 1 ...

until his retirement in 1985. He died of a

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

in 1996.

Epstein–Barr virus

Achong,

Anthony Epstein Sir Michael Anthony Epstein (18 May 1921 – 6 February 2024) was a British pathologist and academic. He was one of the discoverers of the Epstein–Barr virus, along with Yvonne Barr and Bert Achong. Early life Epstein was born in London on ...

and

Yvonne Barr Yvonne Margaret Balding (; 11 March 1932 – 13 February 2016) was an Irish virologist when co-discovered the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), which, because it identified a virus as a cause of cancer in humans, has been called "one of the 20th cent ...

discovered the first example of a human cancer-causing

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

. They published the discovery of the

(EBV) in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

'' on 28 March 1964. Achong's role in the discovery of EBV was to prepare and examine cultured cells prepared from

Burkitt lymphoma Burkitt's lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, particularly B lymphocytes found in the germinal center. It is named after Denis Parsons Burkitt, the Irish surgeon who first described the disease in 1958 while working in equatorial Africa ...

samples by electron microscopy.

Foamy virus

In 1971 Achong made another major discovery, the

human foamy virus Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

. This was proved to be the first example of a

retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. After invading a host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase e ...

naturally infecting humans.

Career

Epstein–Barr virus

Foamy virus

References

Further reading