Richard Alan Morton

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Richard Alan Morton
Born(1899-09-22)September 22, 1899
Garston, Liverpool, UK
DiedJanuary 21, 1977(1977-01-21) (aged 77)
Allerton, Liverpool, UK
Alma materUniversity of Liverpool
SpouseMyfanwy Heulwen Roberts
Scientific career
Fieldsspectroscopy
InstitutionsUniversity of Liverpool
Doctoral advisors Edward Charles Cyril Baly

Richard Alan MortonFRS was the Johnston Professor of Biochemistry at University of Liverpool from 1944 until 1966. He was a pioneer in the application of spectroscopy to biological molecules. His research group were the first to identify vitamin A2 and related compounds. They were also among the first to characterise several isoprenoids including ubiquinone, polyprenol and others. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Richard Alan Morton was the child of Welsh-speaking parents in Liverpool. His middle name was initially Alun. He attended the co-educational Oulton Secondary School in Liverpool. He left school in 1917 to work in a pharmacy and then joined the army towards the end of the First World War. He became ill with Spanish flu. From 1919 he studied chemistry at the University of Liverpool, graduating with B. Sc. first class in 1922. He then undertook doctoral research supervised by Edward Charles Cyril Baly into the application of optical spectroscopy. Selig Hecht was a post-doctoral fellow with Baly's group at this time, interested in applications of spectroscopy in biology, and this developed Morton's interest in this new application. [2]

Career

He remained at this university for his entire career apart from spending 1931 on sabbatical as Visiting Professor at Ohio State University in the USA. [3] From 1924 until 1944 he was a special lecturer in spectroscopy in the Chemistry Department. He was then appointed to the Johnston Chair of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry in 1944 until he retired in 1966. He continued to be active in science after his retirement.

His research focused initially on the application of spectroscopy to determining the structure of chemical compounds. From 1926 his work developed the use of absorption spectroscopy with biological molecules that absorbed light, allowing their concentration to be estimated in solutions. This technology, in collaboration with Ian Heilbron's interest in a therapy for rickets, led him to discover the vitamin A2 and several related compounds. His research group became focused on fat-soluble vitamins and was also among the first to identify ubiquinone and the polyprenol family of compounds. [3] From 1955 until 1965 the focus of his group's research was isoprenoids. [2]

During the Second World War he was involved in studies to understand the requirements of vitamin A by people that gave him a new interest in nutrition. After the war he organised meetings for industrial scientists around Merseyside about the use of spectroscopy

He was the chair of the government's Committee on Food Additives from 1963 to 1968.

Publications

Morton was the author or co-author of 282 scientific publications and several books. These included: [1]

He was also the author of publications in Welsh including:

Honours and awards

In 1929 he was awarded the Meldola Medal and Prize by the Chemical Society. [3] In 1950 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1966In 1969 he was elected a member of the American Society for Nutrition. In 1966 he was made an Honorary Member of the Biochemical Society. [3] In 1971 the University of Liverpool named a new student hostel Morton House after him. [1] He was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Wales (1966), Trinity College Dublin (1967) and the University of Coimbra (1964). [3] In 1978 the Biochemical Society established the annual Morton Lecture in his memory for contribution to lipid biochemistry. [1]

Personal life

In 1926 he and Myfanwy Heulwen Roberts were married. They had one child together. He attended the Welsh Presbyterian Chapel in Garston and was involved with the Welsh community in Liverpool throughout his life. [1]

Related Research Articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chemistry:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lipid</span> Substance of biological origin that is soluble in nonpolar solvents

Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins, monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing energy, signaling, and acting as structural components of cell membranes. Lipids have applications in the cosmetic and food industries, and in nanotechnology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic chemistry</span> Subdiscipline of chemistry, with especial focus on carbon compounds

Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms. Study of structure determines their structural formula. Study of properties includes physical and chemical properties, and evaluation of chemical reactivity to understand their behavior. The study of organic reactions includes the chemical synthesis of natural products, drugs, and polymers, and study of individual organic molecules in the laboratory and via theoretical study.

Coenzyme Q<sub>10</sub> Chemical compound

Coenzyme Q, also known as ubiquinone and marketed as CoQ10, is a coenzyme family that is ubiquitous in animals and most bacteria (hence the name ubiquinone). In humans, the most common form is coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone-10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spectrophotometry</span> Branch of spectroscopy

Spectrophotometry is a branch of electromagnetic spectroscopy concerned with the quantitative measurement of the reflection or transmission properties of a material as a function of wavelength. Spectrophotometry uses photometers, known as spectrophotometers, that can measure the intensity of a light beam at different wavelengths. Although spectrophotometry is most commonly applied to ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation, modern spectrophotometers can interrogate wide swaths of the electromagnetic spectrum, including x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and/or microwave wavelengths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biogenic substance</span> Product made by or of life forms

A biogenic substance is a product made by or of life forms. While the term originally was specific to metabolite compounds that had toxic effects on other organisms, it has developed to encompass any constituents, secretions, and metabolites of plants or animals. In context of molecular biology, biogenic substances are referred to as biomolecules. They are generally isolated and measured through the use of chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques. Additionally, the transformation and exchange of biogenic substances can by modelled in the environment, particularly their transport in waterways.

Dolichol refers to any of a group of long-chain mostly unsaturated organic compounds that are made up of varying numbers of isoprene units terminating in an α-saturated isoprenoid group, containing an alcohol functional group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Harborne</span> British chemist (1928–2002)

Jeffrey Barry Harborne FRS was a British chemist who specialised in phytochemistry. He was Professor of Botany at the University of Reading, 1976–93, then Professor emeritus. He contributed to more than 40 books and 270 research papers and was a pioneer in ecological biochemistry, particularly in the complex chemical interactions between plants, microbes and insects.

Sir Ian Heilbron DSO FRS was a Scottish chemist, who pioneered organic chemistry developed for therapeutic and industrial use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britton Chance</span> American academic and sailor

Britton "Brit" Chance was an American biochemist, biophysicist, scholar, and inventor whose work helped develop spectroscopy as a way to diagnose medical problems. He was "a world leader in transforming theoretical science into useful biomedical and clinical applications" and is considered "the founder of the biomedical photonics." He received the National Medal of Science in 1974.

The Willard Gibbs Award, presented by the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society, was established in 1910 by William A. Converse (1862–1940), a former Chairman and Secretary of the Chicago Section of the society and named for Professor Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903) of Yale University. Gibbs, whose formulation of the Phase Rule founded a new science, is considered by many to be the only American-born scientist whose discoveries are as fundamental in nature as those of Newton and Galileo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan R. Battersby</span> English organic chemist (1925–2018)

Sir Alan Rushton Battersby was an English organic chemist best known for his work to define the chemical intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway to vitamin B12 and the reaction mechanisms of the enzymes involved. His research group was also notable for its synthesis of radiolabelled precursors to study alkaloid biosynthesis and the stereochemistry of enzymic reactions. He won numerous awards including the Royal Medal in 1984 and the Copley Medal in 2000. He was knighted in the 1992 New Year Honours. Battersby died in February 2018 at the age of 92.

Richard Tecwyn Williams FRS was a Welsh biochemist who founded the systematic study of xenobiotic metabolism with the publication of his book Detoxication mechanisms in 1947. This seminal book built on his earlier work on the role of glucuronic acid in the metabolism of borneol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Walsh (physicist)</span> British-Australian physicist

Sir Alan Walsh FAA FRS was a British-Australian physicist, originator and developer of a method of chemical analysis called atomic absorption spectroscopy.

Vitamin A2 is a subcategory of vitamin A, including vitamin A1 in the form of retinol, retinyl esters, retinal, and provitamin A carotenoids.

George Alan Garton FRS was a British biochemist, and Head of the Lipid Biochemistry Department, at the Rowett Research Institute, now part of the University of Aberdeen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Gyorgy</span>

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.

Selig Hecht (1892–1947) was an American physiologist who studied photochemistry in photoreceptor cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartmut K. Lichtenthaler</span> German botanist

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Frank William Ernest Gibson was an Australian biochemist and molecular biologist, Howard Florey Professor of Medical Research in the John Curtin School of Medical Research, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London He undertook his most notable work at the University of Melbourne. He and his research group were responsible for the discovery of chorismic acid. He later worked at The Australian National University (ANU).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Rees, D. Ben. "MORTON, RICHARD ALAN (1899 - 1977), biochemist". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 Glover, J; Pennock, J F; Pitt, G A J; Goodwin, Trevor Walworth (1978). "Richard Alan Morton, 1899 - 1977". Biographical Memoirs. 24: 408–442. doi: 10.1098/rsbm.1978.0013 . S2CID   186209020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Goodwin, T W (1977). "R. A. Morton". Nature. 266 (5600): 394. Bibcode:1977Natur.266..394G. doi: 10.1038/266394a0 . S2CID   31211784.