Arne Tiselius was recruited as an assistant to Prof. Theodor (The) Svedberg at Uppsala University in 1926. Svedberg was engaged in studies on colloidal particles and their sedimentation in a field of gravity, which led to the design of the ultra-centrifuge. Tiselius' assignment was to study colloidal particles in a field of electricity, which led to the development of electrophoresis. This was the subject of his PhD thesis (1930). After obtaining his degree Tiselius became interested in adsorption phenomena, and following a period of research at Princeton University Tiselius engaged in studies of zeolites. Tiselius had no permanent employment but by Svedberg' initiative Karin and Herbert Jacobsson made a donation to Uppsala University in order to create a professorship for Tiselius. In 1938 Tiselius was appointed to the Chair of Biochemistry at Uppsala University endowed by the Jacobsson's. This was the first professorship in biochemistry in Sweden. Tiselius improved the electrophoresis technique and demonstrated that the human serum contained several separable components in the globulin fraction. These studies led to the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1948. A building was created for the new Institute of Biochemistry and the discipline of biochemistry flourished. Several of Tiselius' students continued the development of biochemical separation techniques involving electrophoresis and various chromatographic techniques. This led to the formation of several companies manufacturing equipment for biochemical applications thatbecame used world wide. In addition, research on aspects of biochemistry other than separation science was initiated in the department. Examples include enzymology, microbiology, nucleic acid chemistry, polymer science, and peptide synthesis.
11:00 - 12:00
Guest lecturer
Not recorded
Tiselius: Pioneer in Separation Science and the First Professor of Biochemistry in Sweden
Bengt Mannervik
