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RefNoEC/1977/37
Previous numbersCert XX, 82
LevelItem
TitleWeatherall, Sir David John: certificate of election to the Royal Society
Date1975
DescriptionCitation typed
CitationWeatherall's most important contribution has been to take part in defining, at a molecular level, they way in which the syndromes of thalassaemia arise. His attach on the problem began with the devising (with J.B. Clegg) of a method for separating the alpha and beta chains of haemoglobin. The next developments were a study of the rates of synthesis of the two types of chain and the application of pulse labelling to measure the rates of growth in the chains. This work showed that in thalassaemic subjects (as in normal subjects) globin messenger RNA is translated at a uniform rate along its length, indicating that the defect in its synthesis must lie elsewhere. Subsequently, direct evidence was obtained that the homozygous state for alpha-thalassaemia is associated with gene deletion.
Another minor achievement has been the unravelling of the nature of Hb "Constant Spring" (CS), where the abnormality has been shown to lie in failure to terminate chain synthesis at the normal point.
Weatherall's ability to deal with Thalassaemia both at the molecular and clinical levels is particularly impressive. Since the publication of the first edition of his monograph on The Thalassaemia Syndromes in 1965 he has been accepted internationally as the leading worker in this field.
AccessStatusClosed
Fellows associated with this archive
CodePersonNameDates
NA5411Weatherall; Sir; David John (1933 - 2018)1933 - 2018
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