Haldane, J. B. S.

Geneticist 1892-1964

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was born on November 5, 1892. His father, John Scott Haldane, was a physiologist at Oxford University who worked on respiration and contributed to the safety of miners. The elder Haldane encouraged his son to assist him, and he was soon bringing the child down mine shafts during his experiments to prove that the air in them was breathable.

Haldane attended New College at Oxford on a mathematical scholarship and worked with the rediscovered laws of Mendelian genetics . It was while experimenting on his sister Naomi's guinea pig colony that he discovered genetic linkage. About the same time, in 1912, Haldane published his first of some 400 scientific articles, on hemoglobin binding of carbon monoxide.

One of Haldane's specialties was the physiology of gas absorption and binding in humans. He frequently experimented on himself and his second wife, Dr. Helen Spurway. To assess carbon dioxide regulation of blood pH, for example, he ingested large quantities of sodium bicarbonate to make his blood basic or ammonium chloride to make it more acidic . He inhaled the highly toxic carbon monoxide and described its effects.

Aside from his work in human physiology and respiration, Haldane created the discipline of population genetics nearly single-handedly, starting with the publication of The Causes of Evolution, in 1932. He laid down the foundations for enzyme kinetics in 1930 with Enzymes. He also studied biochemical genetics and human genetics, discovering what effects ionizing radiation had on humans.

Haldane postulated that the early Earth might be able to produce life-supporting molecules such as nucleic acids from abiotic processes. The theory was later shown to be true. At New College, he was a fellow in physiology. And he occupied the chair of biometry at University College, London, for twenty years (1937-1957). Haldane also served as an editor for the influential Journal of Genetics for seventeen years (1947-1964). Before his death, in 1964, he studied tropical biology in India. Despite his monumental contributions to physiology, genetics, enzyme kinetics, and biochemistry, Haldane never held a science degree or any scientific certification from Oxford.

Ian Quigley

Bibliography

Dronamraju, Krishna R. Haldane: The Life and Work of J. B. S. Haldane with Special Reference to India. Aberdeen, Scotland: Aberdeen University Press, 1985.

Many of Haldane's gas absorption experiments were designed to help the British Navy and its divers. Haldane lost two teeth, which exploded due to the rapid decompression in his sinuses, during one experiment.