Education
Francis Peyton Rous, US pathologist who pioneered cancer research and discovered that cancer can be caused by a virus, though his work was not recognized until fifty six years later when he was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
Rous was born in Baltimore on October 5, 1879. He took undergraduate and medical degrees at Johns Hopkins University, and he became head of the laboratory for cancer research at the University of Michigan.
In 1909, his most important series of experiments examined the transmission of spontaneous cancerous tumors in chickens.
Preparing a cell-free filtrate from a malignant sarcoma isolated from a chicken leg and injecting it into healthy hens, Rous discovered that the recipients developed precisely the same tumors as the donors.
This discovery was regarded with suspicion for many years although Rous and his co-workers were able to show the nature of the growth and the causal agent (caused the Rous sarcoma virus).
The hypothesis proposed by Rous was not immediately accepted by the scientific community for the symptoms observed by Rous in the chicken were seemingly quite different from those generally described in the cases of viral infections such as grippe or measles.
In 1933, after R. E Shope discovered a growth in rabbits that often progressed to cancer, Rous took up his studies again and demonstrated several ways in which carcinogenic chemicals and tumor-inducing-viruses act together to speed up tumor production.
He also discovered that carcinogenic action consists of two phases – initiation, which gives a cell malignant potential; and promotion, in which the potential is realized as an actively growing cancer.
In his later years Rous was awarded many honors. In 1966, 56 years after his proof of the viral transmission, Rous was awarded the Nobel Prize. He was 87 years old.
Biography of Francis Peyton Rous MD (1879 – 1970)
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Education
Biography of Francis Peyton Rous MD (1879 – 1970)
Francis Peyton Rous, US pathologist who pioneered cancer research and discovered that cancer can be caused by a virus, though his work was not recognized until fifty six years later when he was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
Rous was born in Baltimore on October 5, 1879. He took undergraduate and medical degrees at Johns Hopkins University, and he became head of the laboratory for cancer research at the University of Michigan.
In 1909, his most important series of experiments examined the transmission of spontaneous cancerous tumors in chickens.
Preparing a cell-free filtrate from a malignant sarcoma isolated from a chicken leg and injecting it into healthy hens, Rous discovered that the recipients developed precisely the same tumors as the donors.
This discovery was regarded with suspicion for many years although Rous and his co-workers were able to show the nature of the growth and the causal agent (caused the Rous sarcoma virus).
The hypothesis proposed by Rous was not immediately accepted by the scientific community for the symptoms observed by Rous in the chicken were seemingly quite different from those generally described in the cases of viral infections such as grippe or measles.
In 1933, after R. E Shope discovered a growth in rabbits that often progressed to cancer, Rous took up his studies again and demonstrated several ways in which carcinogenic chemicals and tumor-inducing-viruses act together to speed up tumor production.
He also discovered that carcinogenic action consists of two phases – initiation, which gives a cell malignant potential; and promotion, in which the potential is realized as an actively growing cancer.
In his later years Rous was awarded many honors. In 1966, 56 years after his proof of the viral transmission, Rous was awarded the Nobel Prize. He was 87 years old.
Biography of Francis Peyton Rous MD (1879 – 1970)
- Know About Pneumonia
What Is Pneumonia? » 5 Facts You Should Know about PneumoniaPneumonia is an infection in one or both of your lungs. Many small germs, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, can cause pneumonia. Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can have more than...
- Brief Biography Of Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Albert Einstein is one of the greatest scientists of all times. He questioned widely accepted scientific truths and fine-tuned the scientific theories of Sir Isaac Newton. Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. He studied...
- Biography Of Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi (September 29, 1901 – November 28, 1954) was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and...
- Short Biography Of Frederick G. Banting
Frederick Grant Banting received Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923. He was the frost Canadian to win a Nobel Prize in medicine. He was born on November 14, 1891, at Alliston, Ont., Canada. He was the youngest of five children of William Thompson...
- The History Of Chickenpox Disease
Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a very contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Chicken pox is an illness with skin rashes. It is spread easily through the air by infected people when they sneeze or cough. The disease also spreads...