Margaret Reed Lewis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Margaret Reed Lewis
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Lewis, c. 1936
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| Born | November 9, 1881 |
| Died | July 20, 1970 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Goucher College |
| Spouse(s) | Warren Harmon Lewis |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cell biology, embryology |
Margaret Adaline Reed Lewis (1881–1970) was an American scientist. She studied cell biology and embryology. She made important discoveries in cancer research. She also helped create ways to grow cells outside the body. She was probably the first person to successfully grow animal tissue in a lab.
Margaret Lewis wrote about 150 scientific papers. Many of these were written with her husband, Warren Harmon Lewis. Together, they created a special liquid for growing cells called the Locke-Lewis solution. They also received a special award, the Gerhard Gold Medal.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Margaret Adaline Reed was born on November 9, 1881. Her hometown was Kittanning, Pennsylvania. She went to Goucher College from 1897 to 1901. There, she earned a bachelor's degree.
After college, she continued her studies. She went to Bryn Mawr College and Columbia University. She also studied in Europe, at universities in Zurich, Paris, and Berlin. Even though she never got a higher degree, she did a lot of important research. She studied how amphibians and crayfish could regrow body parts. She also helped a famous scientist named Thomas Hunt Morgan.
Her Scientific Work
Growing Cells in the Lab
In 1908, Margaret Reed worked in a lab in Berlin. She did what was likely the first successful experiment. She grew mammalian (animal) cells outside the body. She took bone marrow from a guinea pig. She put it into a special jelly-like food made by another scientist.
After a few days, she saw the cells dividing. This was a big discovery! After she married Warren Lewis in 1910, they worked together. They found that their methods helped grow cells found in many organs. These included connective tissue and blood vessel cells.
The Lewises wanted to see cell structures clearly. So, they created the Locke-Lewis solution. This liquid was made of salt water, broth, and sugar. They also developed a way to prepare tissue. This method became known as the "Lewis Culture." Small pieces of tissue were placed in a hanging drop of the solution. This made it easy to watch the cells under a microscope.
Studying Cell Parts
Margaret Lewis was one of the first scientists to watch mitochondria in living cells. Mitochondria are like the power plants of a cell. In 1915, she and Warren Lewis published a detailed study. They described how mitochondria changed shape and moved.
Her early studies used time-lapse photography. She watched mitochondria move around inside cells. She also saw them split into two and join together. She even described how mitochondria break apart when a cell is stressed.
Understanding How Organisms Develop
Margaret and her husband helped create ways to study how cells behave. They showed that the actions of individual cells are very important. These actions affect how an organism develops. They also impact how it gets sick or stays healthy. Their work proved how important cell behavior is.
The Lewises taught future biologists about tissue culture. They believed that understanding cells was key to understanding development. They wrote that knowing how cells act alone was important. This would help understand how they work together in tissues. This idea led them to work at the Carnegie Institution.
Margaret Lewis focused on tiny living things. She watched how chick embryo intestines reacted to bacteria. Her studies showed that infections happen at the cell level. What she saw in isolated cells was similar to what happens in a whole body.
She also studied how connective tissue forms. She saw that tiny fibers in connective tissue came from changes within the cells. She noticed that cells grown in a lab often spread out. They lost their original tissue shape. But she also found that these cells didn't become "younger" or less developed. Instead, they just looked different.
Cancer Research
In 1951, Lewis found a type of lung cancer in a mouse. It was named Lewis lung carcinoma. This was one of the first tumors that could be moved to other mice. Scientists could then use it to test new cancer medicines. This tumor has been very important in studying how cancer spreads. It also helped research how new blood vessels grow to feed tumors.
Margaret Reed Lewis also studied how cancer grows in rats. She looked at how certain immune cells entered tumors. She also studied how cutting off blood supply could shrink tumors. She found that if tumor tissue was put in a place without enough blood, it stopped growing. If this stopped tissue was moved to another rat, it didn't grow. This meant the new rat became resistant to the tumor.
Teaching Others
From 1901 to 1912, Margaret Lewis taught in several places. She was an assistant at Bryn Mawr College. She taught science at Miss Chapin's School. She also lectured on how the body works at New York Medical College for Women. Later, she taught at Barnard College. She also instructed nurses at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Her Marriage and Family
In 1910, she married Warren Harmon Lewis. He was also a cell scientist. They worked together on many projects. For example, they discovered that macrophage cells come from monocytes. They were not separate types of cells. Whether working alone or together, they always helped each other.
They had three children. Margaret Nast Lewis became a physicist. Warren R. Lewis was an engineer and atomic physicist. Jessica H. Lewis became a research professor.
Later Life and Impact
As a woman scientist in the early 1900s, Margaret Reed Lewis faced challenges. But she and her husband greatly improved ways to grow cells in the lab. They showed how single cells affect a whole living thing.
In 1915, Lewis joined the Carnegie Institution of Washington. In 1940, she became a member of the Wistar Institute. She was also an honorary member of the Tissue Culture Society. In 1958, she and her husband received the William Wood Gerhard Gold Medal. This was for their important work in understanding diseases. Margaret Lewis passed away on July 20, 1970, at age 88.
