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Sir Ernst Boris Chain
Life Details
Born: June 19th 1906. Died: August 12th 1979.
Introduction
Ernst Boris Chain was a German-born British scientist that was one of a team that helped Sir Alexander Fleming and Sir Howard Florey to create methods of mass production of penicillin.
Early Life
Born to Dr. Michael Chain, a chemist and industrialist in 1906, Ernst Chain was educated at Luisengymnasium, Berlin. This is where he first became interested in chemistry with visits to his father's laboratory also helping him along. He next attended the Friedrich-Willhelm University in Berlin, where he graduated in chemistry in 1930.
Foreseeing what was becoming of his country in the 1930s, he moved to Britain soon after Hitler took command of Germany. He worked as a research scientist in Cambridge, and gained a Ph.D there while working. He later worked at Oxford University until 1948. He was lured to and from Rome and Britain again in his quest for the natural mystery of life.
Penicillin Purification
Chain came across the work done by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1929 on penicillin, and he set to work with Sir Howard Florey to isolate and purify penicillin. This work, along with other scientists involved with the research, earned him his most honours, among them the Pasteur Medal, the Nobel Prize (shared with Sir Alexander Fleming and Sir Howard Florey) in 1945, and a knighthood.
To put Chain's work into comparison with today's methods, he used 125 gallons of broth just to create a single tablet of penicillin. Today's method takes a lot less time, and for a lot less money.
Other Works
Other work by Chain include the fact that he disagreed with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He based this solely on the scientific research he carried out to disprove it. He theorised that the term "survival of the fittest" was purely a consequence of chance mutations, and not based on facts.
He also surmised that the theory was not substantiated due to the fact that "living systems do not survive if they are not fit to survive". Based on this evidence, he theorised that it was the arrival of the fittest, based on the chance mutations.
Later Life and Death
Chain married Dr. Anne Beloff in 1948, whom he stayed married to until his death. Between them, they had two sons, Benjamin and Daniel, and one daughter, Judith.
