| RefNo | EC/1970/12 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XVIII, 160 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Ingram, Vernon Martin: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed. Letter attached to certificate. |
| Citation | Distinguished for his researches on the chemistry of proteins (especially the abnormal haemoglobins) and nucleic acids, and for his contributions to the study of the genetics of haemoglobins. He devised the method of separating peptides from mixtures known as "fingerprinting", which was used initially to detect differences in the amino acid composition of closely related haemoglobins and subsequently became a standard tool in protein chemistry. He was the first to demonstrate a difference between the amino acid sequences of normal and abnormal haemoglobins, by showing that sickle cell haemoglobin differed from normal human haemogobin in the replacement of glutamic acid by valine at the sixth position of each of the two beta-chains; this work, and similar studies made by him of other abnormal haemoglobins, demonstrated for the first time that a mutation in a Mendelian gene can cause the replacement of a single amino acid residue in a polypeptide chain. This furnished the first direct proof that the amino acid sequence of proteins is genetically determined in detail and posed the problem of the genetic code. He devised important methods for degradation and sequence determination in nucleic acids, and made a special study of "abnormal" bases. He has recently become interested in the locomotion of cells in tissue culture and in the phenomenon of contact inhibition. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA4247 | Ingram; Vernon Martin (1924 - 2006) | 1924 - 2006 |