Margaret Hume

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Margaret Hume
Margaret Hume.jpg
Margaret Hume at Newnham College in 1909
Born1887
Died1968
Alma mater Newnham College, Cambridge
Awards Bathurst studentship
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
Nutrition
Institutions Botany School, Cambridge
University of the Cape of Good Hope
Lister Institute for Preventative Medicine

Eleanor Muriel Margaret Hume (often known as Margaret or Margot

Contents

Hume, 1887–1968) was an English botanist, nutritionist and science editor. After lecturing in botany in South Africa and England, she studied nutrition at the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine and wrote for and edited several nutrition journals.

Education and early career

Educated at Eastbourne Ladies' College, Hume studied the natural sciences tripos at Newnham College, Cambridge, receiving a first class pass in Part II in 1910. [1] She then received a Bathurst studentship to continue her studies, working at the Botany School on her first publications, including a paper engaging with the graft hybrid controversy which was the focus of William Bateson. [2] [3] [4] She also worked on galia under the supervision of Arthur Tansley. [1]

In 1913, Hume worked as lecturer in botany at the South African College at the University of the Cape of Good Hope, returning to England in 1916 to work in munitions. [5] [6] She delivered lectures in biology at University College, London in 1918. [5]

Lister Institute

Staff of the Lister Institute in 1933. Hume is fourth from left in the front row. Lister Institute group photograph Wellcome L0068568.jpg
Staff of the Lister Institute in 1933. Hume is fourth from left in the front row.

In 1919 she joined the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine in London, where she would remain until 1959. [7] [8] The Institute studied the preventative effects of nutrition. For example, Hume conducted preliminary research in a foundling hospital in Vienna which contributed to Harriette Chick's proof that rickets was caused by deficiencies in diet rather than by microbes. [9]

During her time at the Lister Institute, Hume published on nutrition and its impact on medical conditions in medical and scientific journals including the British Journal of Nursing, The Practitioner, the Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Biochemical Journal. Her specialisms were the vitamins A and D, and she organised co-operative studies for international standards for vitamins. [8] [10] She was also a member of the Accessory Food Factors Committee. [8] Hume, Chick, and virologist Marjorie MacFarlane wrote a history of the Lister Institute which was published in 1971. [11]

Editorial work

An original member of the Nutrition Society, she was joint editor of the first five volumes of its Proceedings , and was on the British Journal of Nutrition and the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society from 1947 to 1959. She was also on the editorial staff of Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews.

She died in 1968. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitamin</span> Nutrients required by organisms in small amounts

Vitamins are organic molecules that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism in sufficient quantities for survival, and therefore must be obtained through the diet. For example, vitamin C can be synthesized by some species but not by others; it is not considered a vitamin in the first instance but is in the second. Most vitamins are not single molecules, but groups of related molecules called vitamers. For example, there are eight vitamers of vitamin E: four tocopherols and four tocotrienols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casimir Funk</span> Polish-American biochemist (1884–1967)

Casimir Funk was a Polish biochemist generally credited with being among the first to formulate the concept of vitamins after publishing a landmark medical writing in 1912. He highlighted these "vital amines" as critical in fighting significant diseases such as pellagra and rickets, and his analysis influenced a major shift in scientific thinking. His scientific work involved research in Poland, France and the United Kingdom. In 1920, he became a citizen of the United States where he continued his work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriette Chick</span> British microbiologist, protein scientist and nutritionist

Dame Harriette Chick DBE was a British microbiologist, protein scientist and nutritionist. She is best remembered for demonstrating the roles of sunlight and cod liver oil in preventing rickets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Mellanby</span> British biochemist and nutritionist

Sir Edward Mellanby was a British biochemist and nutritionist who discovered vitamin D and its role in preventing rickets in 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genu valgum</span> Abnormal inward turning of the knees when straightening the legs

Genu valgum, commonly called "knock-knee", is a condition in which the knees angle in and touch each other when the legs are straightened. Individuals with severe valgus deformities are typically unable to touch their feet together while simultaneously straightening the legs. The term originates from Latin genu 'knee' and valgus 'bent outwards', but is also used to describe the distal portion of the knee joint which bends outwards and thus the proximal portion seems to be bent inwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genu varum</span> Varus deformity marked by (outward) bowing at the knee

Genu varum is a varus deformity marked by (outward) bowing at the knee, which means that the lower leg is angled inward (medially) in relation to the thigh's axis, giving the limb overall the appearance of an archer's bow. Usually medial angulation of both lower limb bones is involved.

Alfred Theodore MacConkey was the British bacteriologist who developed MacConkey's agar, a selective medium that is used in the diagnosis of enteric pathogens. He was born McConkey but appears to have spelled his name "MacConkey" from at least 1881 and in all his published papers

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Wills</span> British physician and hematologist (1888-1964)

Lucy Wills, LRCP was an English haematologist and physician researcher. She conducted seminal work in India in the late 1920s and early 1930s on macrocytic anaemia of pregnancy. Her observations led to her discovery of a nutritional factor in yeast which both prevents and cures this disorder. Macrocytic anaemia is characterized by enlarged red blood cells and is life-threatening. Poor pregnant women in the tropics with inadequate diets are particularly susceptible. The nutritional factor identified by Lucy Wills was subsequently shown to be folate, the naturally occurring form of folic acid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmer McCollum</span> American biochemist (1879–1967)

Elmer Verner McCollum was an American biochemist known for his work on the influence of diet on health. McCollum is also remembered for starting the first rat colony in the United States to be used for nutrition research. His reputation has suffered from posthumous controversy. Time magazine called him Dr. Vitamin. His rule was, "Eat what you want after you have eaten what you should."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine</span>

The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, using a grant of £250,000 from Edward Cecil Guinness of the Guinness family. It had premises in Chelsea in London, Sudbury in Suffolk, and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. It was the first medical research charity in the United Kingdom. It was renamed the Jenner Institute in 1898 and then, in 1903, as the Lister Institute in honour of the great surgeon and medical pioneer, Dr Joseph Lister. In 1905, the institute became a school of the University of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitamin D deficiency</span> Human disorder

Vitamin D deficiency or hypovitaminosis D is a vitamin D level that is below normal. It most commonly occurs in people when they have inadequate exposure to sunlight, particularly sunlight with adequate ultraviolet B rays (UVB). Vitamin D deficiency can also be caused by inadequate nutritional intake of vitamin D; disorders that limit vitamin D absorption; and disorders that impair the conversion of vitamin D to active metabolites, including certain liver, kidney, and hereditary disorders. Deficiency impairs bone mineralization, leading to bone-softening diseases, such as rickets in children. It can also worsen osteomalacia and osteoporosis in adults, increasing the risk of bone fractures. Muscle weakness is also a common symptom of vitamin D deficiency, further increasing the risk of fall and bone fractures in adults. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the development of schizophrenia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitamin D</span> Group of fat-soluble secosteroids

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most significant compounds within this group are vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Gyorgy</span> Hungarian-American biochemist (1893–1976)

Paul György (April 7, 1893 – March 1, 1976) was a Hungarian-born American biochemist, nutritionist, and pediatrician best known for his discovery of three B vitamins: riboflavin, B6, and biotin. Gyorgy was also well known for his research into the protective factors of human breast milk, particularly for his discoveries of Lactobacillus bifidus growth factor activity in human milk and its anti-staphylococcal properties. He was a recipient of the National Medal of Science in 1975 from President Gerald Ford.

Genevieve Stearns (1892–1997) was a biochemist, most recognized for her accomplishments in research and advocacy for nutrition, especially for women and children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Mackay</span> British paediatrician

Helen Marion Macpherson Mackay was a British paediatrician. She made important contributions to the understanding of childhood nutrition and preventive healthcare. Mackay was the first woman fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Sang</span>

Helen Mary Sang is the head of the Division of Developmental Biology at the Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh. Her research considers the development of chickens that cannot spread avian influenza. She has previously served on the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Chalmers Watson</span> Scottish physician and writer

Douglas Chalmers Watson M.D., F.R.C.P.Ed. was a Scottish physician and writer.

Marie Coates was a British biologist who was an expert in gnotobiosis. She served as President of the Nutrition Society. She used plastic isolators to research the impact of gut microbes on food additives.

Alfred Louis Bacharach, was a British food scientist, scientific author, socialist, and editor of music history and criticism. He wrote as A. L. Bacharach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie MacFarlane</span> British biochemist (1904–1973)

Marjorie Giffen MacFarlane (1904–1973) was a British physiologist and biochemist known for her research into anaerobic infection.

References

  1. 1 2 Forrester, John; Cameron, Laura, eds. (2017), "Tansley's Dream", Freud in Cambridge, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 7–56, ISBN   978-0-521-86190-8 , retrieved 2024-09-11
  2. Hume, E. M. Margaret (1912). "The Histology of the Sieve Tubes of Pteridium aquilinum, with some Notes on Marsilia quadrifolia and Lygodiumdi chotomum". Annals of Botany. os-26 (2): 573–587. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089401. ISSN   1095-8290.
  3. Hume, Margaret (1913). "ON THE PRESENCE OP CONNECTING THREADS IN GRAFT HYBRIDS". New Phytologist. 12 (6): 216–221. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1913.tb05696.x. ISSN   0028-646X.
  4. Holmes, Matthew (2024-04-16). The Graft Hybrid: Challenging Twentieth-Century Genetics. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN   978-0-8229-9008-6.
  5. 1 2 Forrester (2017), p. 50.
  6. "Lucy Wills (1888-1964), the life and research of an adventurous independent woman". The James Lind Library. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  7. Forrester (2017), p. 52.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Copping, A. M. (1970). "Eleanor Margaret Hume". British Journal of Nutrition. 24 (1): 1–1. doi:10.1079/BJN19700003. ISSN   1475-2662.
  9. Chick, D. H. (1976). "Study of rickets in Vienna 1919-1922". Medical History. 20 (1): 41–51. doi:10.1017/s0025727300021785. ISSN   0025-7273. PMC   1081690 . PMID   765649.
  10. "Lister Institute Report". Br Med J. 1 (4042): 1379–1380. 1938. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4042.1379. ISSN   0007-1447.
  11. Chick, Harriette; Hume, Margaret; MacFarlane, Marjorie (1971). War on disease: a history of the Lister Institute. Andre Deutsch.