Bernard Katz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Bernard Katz
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Painting after a portrait by Nick Sinclair
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| Born | 26 March 1911 |
| Died | 20 April 2003 (aged 92) London, UK
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| Alma mater | University of Leipzig |
| Known for | Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz flux equation Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz voltage equation Kiss-and-run fusion Summation (neurophysiology) |
| Spouse(s) | Marguerite ("Rita") Penly Katz (d. 1999) |
| Children | 2 |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neurophysiology |
| Institutions | University College London University of Sydney Sydney Hospital |
| Academic advisors | Archibald Hill |
| Influenced | Bernard Ginsborg |
Sir Bernard Katz was a brilliant scientist who studied how our nerves work. He was born in Germany in 1911 and later became a British citizen. His amazing discoveries helped us understand how nerve cells communicate with each other and with our muscles. For his important work, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970. He was also made a Knight Bachelor, which means he was given the title "Sir."
Life and Career
Bernard Katz was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1911. His family was Jewish. He went to school there and then studied medicine at the University of Leipzig. After finishing his studies in 1934, he moved to Britain in 1935 because of the difficult situation in Germany at the time.
In Britain, Katz started working at University College London. He was guided by another famous scientist, Archibald Hill. Katz earned his PhD in 1938. He then received a special scholarship to study in Australia with John Carew Eccles at the Kanematsu Institute. During this time, both Katz and Eccles gave research lectures at the University of Sydney.
Katz became a British citizen in 1941. In 1942, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force. He spent the war in the Pacific as a radar officer. After the war, in 1946, he was invited back to University College London by Archibald Hill. For three years, the Katz family lived with Hill and his wife Margaret.
Back in England, he also worked with Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley, who later won the Nobel Prize in 1963. Katz became a professor at University College London in 1952. He was also chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in the same year. He led the biophysics department until 1978, when he became an emeritus professor, meaning he retired but kept his title.
Katz married Marguerite Penly in 1945. He passed away in London on April 20, 2003, at the age of 92.
Amazing Discoveries About Nerves
Sir Bernard Katz's research helped us understand the basic ways that synapses work. Synapses are tiny gaps where nerve cells send signals to each other and to other cells, like muscle cells.
In the 1950s, he studied a special chemical called acetylcholine. This chemical is a neurotransmitter, which is like a messenger molecule. It's found in synapses that connect motor neurons (nerve cells that control movement) to muscles. Acetylcholine tells muscles to contract.
Katz won the Nobel Prize for his discovery with Paul Fatt. They found that when neurotransmitters are released at synapses, they are released in "quantal" amounts. This means the amount of neurotransmitter released is always a specific minimum amount, or a whole number multiple of that amount.
Imagine you have a bag of marbles. You can't release half a marble; you release them one by one, or in groups of a certain size. Similarly, scientists now know that before they are released, these messenger molecules are stored in tiny packages called synaptic vesicles. These vesicles release their contents in a way similar to how other vesicles release things from a cell, a process called exocytosis.
Katz's work was very important for understanding how nerve signals work. It also helped scientists study how certain chemicals, like those in some pesticides, can affect these nerve signals. He showed that the complex system of nerve communication could be easily disrupted.
See also
- Chemical synapse
- Quantile neurotransmitter release
- End-plate potential
- List of refugees
- Neuromuscular junction
