Allan Macfadyen facts for kids

Allan Macfadyen (born 26 May 1860 in Glasgow – died 1 March 1907 in Hampstead, London) was a Scottish scientist. He was a bacteriologist, which means he studied tiny living things called bacteria. He was a very important person in finding ways to protect people from sickness caused by bacteria. He helped develop methods to make people immune to these infections.

Early Life and Learning

Allan Macfadyen was the youngest of four sons. His father was a brass founder in Glasgow, Scotland.

He went to school in Edinburgh starting in 1871. In 1878, he began studying at the University of Edinburgh. He earned several degrees there, including one in medicine in 1883 and another in hygiene in 1888. He also traveled to other cities like Berne, Göttingen, and Munich to study chemistry and bacteriology.

His Work as a Scientist

When Allan Macfadyen came back to England in 1889, he became a research scholar. He also taught about bacteria at the College of State Medicine in London.

This college later joined with another group called the British Institute of Preventive Medicine. Macfadyen became a director there in 1891. This institute changed its name a few times. First, it became the Jenner Institute in 1898. Then, in 1903, it was renamed the Lister Institute.

In 1903, Macfadyen became a leader at the Lister Institute. He was the secretary and also led the department that studied bacteria. He played a big part in planning the current building of the Lister Institute in London.

From 1901 to 1904, he was also a special professor at the Royal Institution. He left this job in 1905 to focus only on his own research.

Studying Bacteria and Immunity

Macfadyen did important work on parts of bacteria called endotoxins. These are substances inside some bacteria. He studied bacteria like Vibrio cholerae (which causes cholera) and Salmonella enterica (which can cause food poisoning).

To get these endotoxins, Macfadyen used a special method. He would freeze bacteria using very cold liquid nitrogen, down to –190°C. This made the bacteria very brittle. He worked with Sir James Dewar, a famous scientist, on using liquid nitrogen.

Macfadyen and Dewar showed that some bacteria could still be active even after being frozen to extremely cold temperatures, like –250°C.

Macfadyen discovered something very important. He found that if he injected small amounts of these bacterial endotoxins into animals, the animals became protected. This meant they were immune to getting sick from the living bacteria. Another scientist, Sydney Donville Rowland, helped him with much of this research.

Other Discoveries

Macfadyen also studied bacteria that like to live in very hot places. These are called thermophilic bacteria.

He also worked with Joseph Edwin Barnard to research bioluminescence in bacteria. This is when bacteria can produce their own light, like fireflies.

His Passing

Sadly, after he left his job at the Royal Institution, Allan Macfadyen accidentally got sick with typhoid fever. He had been studying the bacteria that causes this illness. This sickness led to his death in 1907. His wife, Marie, was the daughter of a professor from Göttingen.

See Also

• Symbiotic fermentation