Tiselius Tube
In order for the science of biochemistry to advance significantly, methods needed to be developed to separate individual molecules so their characteristics could be known. This was made possible by the invention of the Tiselius tube.
A brilliant Swedish physical biochemist, Arne Tiselius (1902-1971), turned his attention to this problem at the beginning of his career in the 1920's, and made many contributions to the field throughout his research career. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1902, Tiselius earned his M.A. in chemistry, physics, and mathematics from the University of Uppsala in 1924. The following year he became an assistant in the research laboratory of the eminent physical chemist Theodor Svedberg (1884-1971) in Uppsala and joined the university faculty in 1930 after receiving his doctorate. He later became director of Uppsala's Institute of Biochemistry.
When Tiselius joined Svedberg's lab, Svedberg was developing the high-speed centrifuge in order to study the size and shape of protein molecules. Svedberg assigned Tiselius the project of using electrophoresis to further study the nature of proteins. Electrophoresis is a method of separating protein molecules in a mixture influenced by an electric field. Molecules of different sizes and electric charges move at different rates and in different directions within the field, separating out from each other. Tiselius was able to separate blood plasma proteins using electrophoresis; this work was the basis of his doctoral dissertation of 1930.
However, discouraged by the limitations of electrophoresis—it failed to separate molecules in many substances--Tiselius turned to other studies. Contact with prominent chemists while studying at Princeton University's Frick Chemical Laboratory in 1934-35 refocused Tiselius's interest in improving electrophoresis methods. Back in Uppsala, Tiselius redesigned his electrophoresis apparatus and method. He performed his experiments at 104°F (40° C), thereby eliminating variations in temperature and solution thickness which had seriously distorted molecule movement. He devised a rectangular U-shaped tube with portions carefully fitted together that could be divided to yield samples of individual proteins from separated parts of a solution. Tiselius also used special refractive optics that showed the wavelike bands of different proteins as they separated.
Using his improved electrophoresis apparatus, Tiselius was able to separate four protein bands in horse serum, making it possible for the first time to study the different elements of blood serum. He and his colleagues went on to separate and purify many more biologically and medically important proteins. Tiselius continued to improve electrophoresis methods and also developed techniques for adsorption chromatography, another approach to molecular separation. For these important contributions to the development of biochemistry, Tiselius was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1948.
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