Peter Alfred Gorer
FRS (14 April 1907 in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
– 1961) was a British immunologist, pathologist and geneticist who pioneered the field of
transplant immunology.
Peter Gorer was born in London to Edgar (drowned in the 1915 sinking of
RMS Lusitania) and Rachel née Cohen Gorer.
He died of
lung cancer in 1961.
Education and work institutions
He was educated at
Charterhouse. He graduated from
Guy's Hospital, London in 1929 and then studied genetics under
J.B.S. Haldane at
University College, London.
From 1933 to 1940 Gorer worked at the
Lister Institute before returning to Guy's Hospital to work as a pathologist.
Research
Gorer is credited with the co-discovery of
histocompatibility antigens and the elucidation of their
genetic regulation. Together with
George Snell, he helped discover the murine histocompatibility 2 locus, or H-2, which is analogous to the
human leukocyte antigen
The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is a complex of genes on chromosome 6 in humans that encode cell-surface proteins responsible for regulation of the immune system. The HLA system is also known as the human version of the major histo ...
.
Gorer also identified antigen II and determined its role in
transplant tissue rejection.
[
]
Awards
*Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1960.
See also
* C.C. Little
*Major histocompatibility complex
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a large Locus (genetics), locus on vertebrate DNA containing a set of closely linked polymorphic genes that code for Cell (biology), cell surface proteins essential for the adaptive immune system. The ...
References
1907 births
1961 deaths
People educated at Charterhouse School
Alumni of University College London
Physicians of Guy's Hospital
English geneticists
British immunologists
Deaths from lung cancer
Fellows of the Royal Society
20th-century British medical doctors
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