Benjamin Moore, FRS (14 January 1867 – 3 March 1922) was an early British

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

. He held the first chair of biochemistry in the UK, and founded the ''

Biochemical Journal The ''Biochemical Journal'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology. It is published by Portland Press and was established in 1906. History The journal was established ...

'', one of the earliest academic journals in the subject.

Education and career

Educated at

Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

and the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

, Moore's early positions were in the field of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, United States and

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is district general hospital and teaching hospital located in Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approxim ...

, London. The Royal Society: Library and Archive catalogue: Moore; Benjamin (1867–1922)
(accessed 2 October 2007) When the first British department of biochemistry was founded at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

in 1902, after a donation from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

shipowner William Johnston, Moore took up the Johnston Chair, the first chair of biochemistry in the UK.Oliver R, Starley P. A reduced history of the ''Biochemical Journal'' ''Biochemist'' (February 2006) 42–45
(accessed 2 October 2007)
(accessed 2 October 2007) Moore is credited (in The SMA and the Foundation of the National Health Service) by Dr Leslie Hilliard with the first use of the words "National Health Service" and the foundation of the State Medical Service Association. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Moore worked for the Medical Research Council in London. In 1916-1917, together with Guy Alfred Wyon and T.A. Webster, he resolved the issue of potentially-fatal

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

poisoning in British

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

factories, preventing further deaths. The poisonings and method of prevention were censored by the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

until 1921 for the sake of public morale. (Text of ''Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology'' article in full, without paywall) Moore became a professor of biochemistry at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1920.

Biochemistry in the UK

Moore was central to the early development of the field of biochemistry in the UK. He founded the ''

'' in 1906, with financial assistance from his research assistant, Edward Whitley. Although the two sold the ''Biochemical Journal'' to the Biochemical Club (later the

Biochemical Society The Biochemical Society is a learned society in the United Kingdom in the field of biochemistry, including all the cellular and molecular biosciences. It was founded in 1911 and acquired the existing '' Biochemical Journal'' the following year. T ...

) in 1912, Moore retained his interest in the new journal, remaining on the editorial committee until 1921 and publishing further papers in it. In 1911, he was one of the founders of the Biochemical Society.

Biotic energy

Moore for many years studied the

molecular physics Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecules and molecular dynamics. The field overlaps significantly with physical chemistry, chemical physics, and quantum chemistry. It is often considered as a sub-field of atomic, mo ...

and structure of the

organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...

, he came to reject mechanist and

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materia ...

explanations for the organism but also opposed

idealistic Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...

and spiritualist explanations. Instead he developed a theory of "biotic energy" which he discussed in his books ''The Origin and Nature of Life'' (1913) and ''Biochemistry'' (1921). Similar to the

vitalists Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

he claimed that there was an energy in living bodies which could not be described in terms of physics and chemistry.

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bi ...

was supportive of his biotic energy theory.

Awards and honours

Moore was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1912.

Personal life

He married and had three children, but was devastated when his wife died suddenly of appendicitis in 1913. His son

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

(1900–99) was a nutritional biochemist who became the first deputy director of the MRC Dunn Nutritional Laboratory. Moore died from pneumonia in Oxford in 1922.

Selected works

*Moore B, Eadie ES, Abram JH. (1906) On the treatment of diabetes mellitus by acid extract of duodenal mucous membrane. ''Bio-Chem J'' 1: 28–38 * ix+204 pages.