John Howard Mueller
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John Howard Mueller (June 13, 1891,
Sheffield, Massachusetts Sheffield is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,327 at the 2020 census. Sheffield is home to Berkshire School, a private preparatory schoo ...
– February 14, 1954) was an American biochemist, pathologist, and bacteriologist. He is known as the discoverer of the
amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...
methionine Methionine (symbol Met or M) () is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other non-essential amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine play ...
in 1921, and as the co-developer, with Jane Hinton, of the eponymous
Mueller–Hinton agar Mueller Hinton agar is a type of growth medium used in microbiology to culture bacterial isolates and test their susceptibility to antibiotics. This medium was first developed in 1941 by John Howard Mueller and Jane Hinton, who were microbiologis ...
.


Biography

J. Howard Mueller was the son of a Unitarian clergyman and grew up in Illinois. He studied biology at
Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...
with a bachelor's degree in 1912. He was then a chemistry instructor at the
University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...
for two years before receiving his master's degree in 1914. He became interested in pathology and bacteriology and in 1914 attended a summer course at the Medical Faculty of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. He stayed there for further studies after receiving a scholarship and received in 1916 his doctorate Ph.D. in pathology. He then became an assistant pathologist at the
New York Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospit ...
. In 1917 he was a volunteer at the front in France with a medical unit and was involved in empirical proof of the transmission of trench fever by lice. In 1919 he was discharged as a lieutenant and became an instructor in bacteriology under
Hans Zinsser Hans Zinsser (November 17, 1878 – September 4, 1940) was an American physician, bacteriologist, and prolific author. The author of over 200 books and medical articles, he was also a published poet. Some of his verses were published in '' ...
at Columbia University. (The academic position to which Mueller was appointed was formerly held by Joseph Gardner Hopkins MD (1882–1951), who was promoted.) At Columbia, Mueller did research on the requirements for the growth of cultures of pathogenic bacteria. (See pages 314-321 for a bibliography of Mueller's publications.) He wrote: He was the first to succeed in isolating and characterizing methionine, which certain streptococci needed for their growth. In 1923 when Zinnser was appointed as the chair of the department of bacteriology and immunology at
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
, Mueller followed him and became an assistant professor there. However, Mueller had to interrupt his work on bacterial metabolism, including work on Rous sarcoma virus with a dispute over
William Ewart Gye William Ewart Gye Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (born William Ewart Bullock; 11 August 1889, Breaston – 14 October 1952) was a British pathologist and cancer researcher. Career After a difficult financial struggle, Bullock matriculated a ...
's theory. In 1930 Mueller began his studies on the nutritional requirements of the diphtheria bacillus. His work with the diphtheria pathogen was also of practical importance for the development of vaccines against diphtheria (by optimizing the bacterial cultures). From the early 1940s, he turned to research on the tetanus pathogen. After Zinsser's death in 1940, Mueller became head of the bacteriology department at Harvard. He continued to do research. Ge arrived several hours early at his laboratory and experimented until his co-workers arrived in the morning, then gave the research to his assistant Pauline Miller so that could devoted himself to administrative work. In addition to basic research, he always aimed at medical applications to fight infectious agents. In 1944 when
Oswald Avery Oswald Theodore Avery Jr. (October 21, 1877 – February 20, 1955) was a Canadian-American physician and medical researcher. The major part of his career was spent at the Rockefeller Hospital in New York City. Avery was one of the first molecu ...
, Colin MacLeod and
Maclyn McCarty Maclyn McCarty (June 9, 1911 – January 2, 2005) was an American geneticist, a research scientist described in 2005 as "the last surviving member of a Manhattan scientific team that overturned medical dogma in the 1940s and became the first to ...
published their research on bacterial
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
, Mueller understood the meaning and importance of their results and published his viewpoint in 1945 in a review article. Mueller was elected a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1928 and a member of the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
in 1945.


Selected publications

* * * * * * * (See
Harvey Society The Harvey Society or Harvey Society of New York is a learned society based in New York City, Named after the British scientist William Harvey (1578–1657), its scope is "the diffusion of knowledge of the medical sciences". Since 1905, the soci ...
.) * * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, John Howard 20th-century American biochemists American pathologists American bacteriologists Illinois Wesleyan University alumni University of Louisville alumni Columbia University alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 1891 births 1954 deaths People from Sheffield, Massachusetts Scientists from Massachusetts