Physics for biological breakthroughs

It might not sound like an obvious place for a physicist to work, but the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is highly multidisciplinary, employing people from across all scientific fields. Laura Hiscott speaks to Wolfgang Huber, a physicist at EMBL who uses his mathematical skills to contribute to the life sciences.

Max Perutz, John Kendrew, Peterhouse, and the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory

The accidental way in which Perutz and Kendrew met and the influence of the brilliant, versatile physicist J. D. Bernal upon them and on the third Nobel Laureate chemist Dorothy Hodgkin are described. Perutz and Kendrew, each a member of Peterhouse (a Cambridge College), were also guided by W. L. Bragg of the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, and later at the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory, London where, in 1953, they became visiting scientists and adept in the popularization of science. The founding of the new subject of molecular biology and the objection to it by some biologists are outlined. The joint efforts of Perutz and Kendrew in establishing two new major research centres—the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg—is outlined. A brief trajectory of their initial work on haemoglobin is also given.