Arne Tiselius was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research in electrophoresis (the movement of molecules based on their electric charge and their size) and for his investigations into adsorption, the inclination of certain molecules to cling to particular substances. Although the phenomenon of electrophoresis had been identified decades earlier, it did not become a useful technique for analyzing chemical compounds until Tiselius developed methods which delivered accurate results.
Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 10, 1902, to Hans Abraham J. Tiselius, who was employed by an insurance company, and Rosa Kaurin Tiselius, the daughter of a Norwegian clergyman. Upon the death of Tiselius's father in 1906, Rosa relocated the family to Göteborg, Sweden, where Hans's family lived. Entering the gymnasium at Göteborg, Tiselius came under the tutelage of a chemistry and biology teacher who actively supported his student's interest in science. In 1921 Tiselius matriculated to the University of Uppsala--where his father had earned his degree in mathematics--and studied under the renowned physical chemist Theodor Svedberg. Earning his master's degree in chemistry, physics, and mathematics in 1924, Tiselius continued to work as Svedberg's research assistant in physical chemistry. Although Svedberg was interested in the electrophoretic properties of proteins, he turned the study of this over to his new assistant, and three years later Tiselius published his first paper jointly with Svedberg on the subject.
Tiselius would remain at Uppsala until his retirement in 1968, rising from researcher to full professor. His 1930 doctoral dissertation, which earned him a post as docent in the chemistry department, long stood as a standard in the field of electrophoresis. Sweden's first professorship in biochemistry was established for Tiselius at Uppsala in 1938. Besides his work in biochemistry, Tiselius had a strong interest in botany and ornithology and made frequent excursions into the Swedish countryside on photographic expeditions. On November 26, 1930, the year of his doctoral thesis, he married Ingrid Margareta Dalén, with whom he would have one son, Per, and a daughter, Eva.
Explores the Possibilities of Chromatography
Following his dissertation, Tiselius concentrated his attention in areas outside of chemistry. He expanded his research to include biochemical studies--not a typical element of the chemistry curriculum in those days--and became aware of the potential for exploiting the extremely specific electrical "signature" of proteins, as well as other substances. He became concerned, however, with the impurities in the substances under study, even those that had been carefully centrifuged, and turned to chromatography as a possible answer. In chromatographic analysis, light of a specific frequency is passed through a substance, and by using tables assembled over the course of many experiments, the "chromatic signature" of the particular sample can be detected. Tiselius applied this technique by looking into the properties of light diffusion through zeolite, a translucent mineral. While studying under Hugh S. Taylor from 1934 to 1935 at Princeton University's Frick Chemical Laboratory, Tiselius conceived of an accurate method to quantify the diffusion of water molecules through crystals of zeolite.
While at Princeton, Tiselius came to realize that a wealth of potential discoveries in the biochemical sciences awaited only the development of a method accurate enough to help separate and identify compounds. Returning to his original line of research, he completed a prototype of a new electrophoretic apparatus.
When Tiselius returned to Uppsala, he continued making improvements on his electrophoretic instrumentation. In one innovation, he filled a U-shaped tube with chemical solvents, added a solution containing the sample to be analyzed, then applied a charge to one end. As the elements migrated, they reached the solvents at different lengths along the tube. Tiselius constructed the tube so that test samples could be taken at various points along the path of migration and be analyzed to determine which of the original species had made it to that point. It was by using this technique that Tiselius was able to demonstrate that blood plasma contained a complex mix of different elements.
Tracking the movement of boundaries optically by a technique invented by August Toepler--the Schlieren method--Tiselius resolved the plasma into four distinct elements that showed up as separate bands in the tube. He was the first to isolate three of the blood proteins known as globulins, which he named alpha, beta, and gamma. These are important in many of the body's functions; the immunoglobulins, for example, are a critical factor in infection control. In the fourth band, located between those of beta and gamma, Tiselius discovered antibodies.
The method was a radical improvement but still dissatisfied Tiselius. At the time he was more interested in the breakdown products of polypeptides than in blood compounds. Peptides represent some of the most important proteins in the body and for a clear understanding of their function, it is essential to know their types. However, when the long chain of a polypeptide is broken down, the individual peptides are so similar in nature that even Tiselius's improved electrophoretic technique could not distinguish between them. Faced with this problem, he turned to adsorption methods of analysis, using the then-common column method. In this procedure, a mixture which contains a substance with a specific affinity for absorbing one peptide or another is flushed through a column (a tube or cylinder). The peptides which had been in the original mix can then be determined by analyzing the eluate (the wash which passed through the column).
In 1943 Tiselius introduced a critical improvement in the process. Research to that point had been carried out using a "frontal analysis method," which revealed the concentration of the components in a mixture but was unable to separate them for further study. Elution could accomplish separation, but had a major setback, "tailing," which is the corruption of one part of a solution by molecules from the other. Tiselius demonstrated that a simple modification to the old technique could reduce tailing, and this new method became known as "displacement analysis."
Advises Government on Scientific Matters
Other important work came out of Tiselius's laboratory throughout the 1940s, such as research on paper electrophoresis and zone electrophoresis. However, increasing demands from other sources took over his time and, in the summer of 1944, Tiselius became an advisor to the Swedish government. His responsibilities included sitting on a committee established to help improve conditions for advancing scientific research, with a focus on basic research. This was the beginning of a long and distinguished relationship with the Swedish Parliament, an association that ended only when Tiselius suffered a heart attack following an important meeting in Stockholm. He died the next morning on October 29, 1971.
Up to his last day, Tiselius followed an active schedule. Having accepted the four-year chairmanship of the Swedish Natural Science Research Council in 1946, he was instrumental in the creation of the Science Advisory Council to the Swedish government. Tiselius was elected vice president of the Nobel Foundation with membership on the Nobel Committee for Chemistry in 1947, one year before he was awarded his own Nobel Prize. That same year, at the International Congress of Chemistry held in London, he was elected vice president in charge of the section for biological chemistry of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry--a body which he led as president four years later.
Among other honors Tiselius received were the Bergstedt Prize of the Royal Swedish Scientific Society in 1926, the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1956, and the Paul Karrer Medal in Chemistry from the University of Zurich in 1961. He was also presented with numerous honorary degrees from universities, including those of Stockholm, Paris, Glasgow, Madrid, California at Berkeley, Prague, Cambridge, and Oxford. Tiselius was always interested in fields beyond his own and was concerned with the environmental, social, and ethical implications of science and technology. As president of the Nobel Foundation in 1960, he established the Nobel Symposium, perceiving the foundation as the perfect vehicle for raising awareness of the need to promote science as a solution to mankind's problems. This organization gathered a mix of Nobel laureates to discuss the implications of their work during symposia in each of the five prize fields.
This is the complete article, containing 1,344 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).
