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Andru HuxleyEnglish physiologist, grandson of Darwinist T. H. Huxley, Nobel Prize Laureate
Date of Birth: 22.11.1917
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
- Andrew Fielding Huxley: Nobel Laureate in Physiology
- Research on Nerve Impulses
- Ion Flows and the Action Potential
- Mathematical Model of the Action Potential
- Research on Muscle Mechanics
- Nobel Prize and Later Career
- Honors and Awards
Andrew Fielding Huxley: Nobel Laureate in Physiology
Early Life and EducationAndrew Fielding Huxley was born in Hampstead, London, on July 22, 1917, to Leonard Huxley, a classical scholar and author, and Rosalind Bruce. His grandfather, Thomas Henry Huxley, was a renowned scientist and writer who advocated Darwin's theory of natural selection. Huxley was educated at University College School and Westminster School, where he excelled in physics and engineering. In 1935, he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, intending to pursue a career in these disciplines. However, after taking a course in physiology, he shifted to the medical program in 1937.
Research on Nerve Impulses
In 1939, Huxley became a research assistant to Alan Hodgkin at the Plymouth Marine Biological Laboratory. Hodgkin was investigating the transmission of electrical impulses along axons, the projections of neurons. Based on the work of Julius Bernstein, Hodgkin hypothesized that resting nerve cells maintain a resting potential, a voltage difference across their cell membrane, due to the unequal distribution of ions.
Huxley and Hodgkin inserted microelectrodes into isolated squid axons and measured the resting and action potentials. They discovered that the change in membrane potential during an action potential was significantly greater than expected. It was not merely zeroing out the resting potential but actually overshooting it and reversing its polarity.
Ion Flows and the Action Potential
Huxley and Hodgkin proposed that the action potential involved an influx of sodium ions through voltage-gated channels in the cell membrane. These channels open when the membrane is depolarized, allowing sodium ions to rush in and temporarily reversing the polarity of the membrane's inner surface.
Mathematical Model of the Action Potential
Huxley performed extensive calculations to develop a mathematical model of the action potential in the squid axon. The model described the sequence of events during the action potential, including the opening and closing of sodium and potassium channels and the ion flows involved.
Research on Muscle Mechanics
After establishing the mathematical model, Huxley became interested in muscle contraction. He collaborated with Archibald V. Hill to design a new type of interference light microscopy to study isolated muscle fibers.
Nobel Prize and Later Career
In 1963, Huxley was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Hodgkin and John Eccles "for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane."
Huxley held various positions at Trinity College and University College London. He retired as Emeritus Professor in 1983 and continued to contribute to scientific research and the governance of scientific institutions.
Honors and Awards
Huxley received numerous honors and awards, including the Copley Medal of the Royal Society (1973), membership in the Royal Society, and honorary degrees from several universities worldwide. He passed away on May 30, 2012, leaving a lasting legacy in the field of physiology.
