Burnet, Sir Macfarlane

Burnet, Sir Macfarlane

▪ Australian physician
in full  Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet 
born Sept. 3, 1899, Traralgon, Australia
died Aug. 31, 1985, Melbourne

      Australian physician, immunologist, and virologist who, with Sir Peter Medawar (Medawar, Sir Peter B.), was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of acquired immunological tolerance, the concept on which tissue transplantation is founded.

      Burnet received his medical degree in 1924 from the University of Melbourne and performed research (1925–27) at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, London. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of London (1928), he became assistant director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research at Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1934 and later (1944–65) was its director and professor of experimental medicine at the University of Melbourne. He was knighted in 1951.

      Early in his career, Burnet conducted fundamental experiments with bacteriophages (bacteriophage), and he developed a technique—now standard laboratory practice—of culturing viruses (virus) in living chick embryos. He increased knowledge of the way influenza viruses cause infection, and he carried out or was associated with research on myxomatosis, Murray Valley encephalitis, toxic staphylococcal infection (staphylococcus), polio, psittacosis, herpes simplex, poxviruses (poxvirus), and Q fever. He isolated the causal organism of Q fever, Rickettsia burnetii (Coxiella burnetii).

      Although Burnet's work in virology was important, his most significant achievements in science were made in immunology. He helped unravel the question of how the vertebrate immune system learns to distinguish between its own cells and foreign materials (antigens (antigen)), such as those of infectious agents, and how during development a vertebrate becomes able to tolerate those components belonging to itself—the concept called immunological tolerance. He also developed a model, called the clonal selection theory of antibody formation, that explains how the body is able to recognize and respond to a virtually limitless number of foreign antigens. The theory states that an antigen entering the body does not induce the formation of an antibody specific to itself—as some immunologists believed—but instead it binds to one unique antibody selected from a vast repertoire of antibodies produced early in the organism's life. Although controversial at first, this theory became the foundation of modern immunology.

      Among Burnet's publications are Viruses and Man (1953), Principles of Animal Virology (1955), The Clonal Selection Theory of Acquired Immunity (1959), Immunological Surveillance (1970), and Credo and Comment: A Scientist Reflects (1979).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Burnet , Sir Frank Macfarlane — (1899–1985) Australian virologist Burnet s father, a bank manager, had emigrated to Australia from Scotland as a young man. Burnet was born in Traralgon and studied medicine at Melbourne University, gaining his MD in 1924. After a period abroad… …   Scientists

  • Burnet, Sir (Frank)Macfarlane — Bur·net (bər nĕtʹ, bûrʹnĭt), Sir (Frank) Macfarlane. 1899 1985. Australian virologist. He shared a 1960 Nobel Prize for work on acquired immunological tolerance. * * * …   Universalium

  • Burnet, Sir (Frank) Macfarlane — born Sept. 3, 1899, Traralgon, Vic., Austl. died Aug. 31, 1985, Melbourne, Vic. Australian physician and virologist. Burnet received his medical degree from the University of Melbourne. He later discovered a method for identifying bacteria by the …   Universalium

  • Burnet, Sir (Frank) Macfarlane — (3 sep. 1899, Traralgon, Victoria, Australia–31 ago. 1985, Melbourne, Victoria). Médico y virólogo australiano. Se graduó de médico en la Universidad de Melbourne. Más adelante descubrió un método para identificar las bacterias por los virus… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • BURNET (F. M.) — BURNET sir FRANCK MACFARLANE (1899 1985) Diplômé de médecine en 1923 à l’université de Melbourne, Burnet fut chercheur (1926 1927) à l’Institut Lister de médecine préventive à Londres. Il devint directeur adjoint de l’Institut Walter et Eliza… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Burnet — Sir Frank Macfarlane …   Scientists

  • Macfarlane Burnet — Frank Macfarlane Burnet Frank Macfarlane Burnet im Labor Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet (* 3. September 1899 in Traralgon, Victoria …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • sir — /serr/, n. 1. a respectful or formal term of address used to a man: No, sir. 2. (cap.) the distinctive title of a knight or baronet: Sir Walter Scott. 3. (cap.) a title of respect for some notable personage of ancient times: Sir Pandarus of Troy …   Universalium

  • sir — (Voz inglesa.) ► sustantivo masculino Tratamiento honorífico empleado por los británicos. * * * sir (ingl.; pronunc. [ser]) m. *Tratamiento de respeto usado en Inglaterra delante de un nombre de hombre o para dirigirse a la persona de que se… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Medawar, Sir Peter B. — ▪ British zoologist in full  Sir Peter Brian Medawar  born Feb. 28, 1915, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil died Oct. 2, 1987, London, Eng.  Brazilian born British zoologist who received with Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet (Burnet, Sir Macfarlane) the Nobel… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”