Murdoch Mitchison facts for kids
John Murdoch Mitchison (born June 11, 1922, in Oxford; died March 17, 2011, in Edinburgh) was an important British zoologist. A zoologist is a scientist who studies animals. He was known for his work on how cells grow and divide.
Contents
Early Life and Education
His Family and Relatives
John Murdoch Mitchison came from a family of talented people. His father, Dick Mitchison, was a politician from the Labour Party. His mother, Naomi Haldane, was a writer.
He had two brothers who also became scientists. His older brother, Denis Mitchison, studied bacteria. His younger brother, Avrion Mitchison, was also a zoologist.
John's uncle was the famous biologist J.B.S. Haldane. His grandfather, John Scott Haldane, was a physiologist. A physiologist studies how living things work. John's wife, Rosalind Mitchison, was a historian.
School and University
Murdoch Mitchison went to Winchester College for his schooling. Later, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge.
In 1963, he became a Professor of Zoology at Edinburgh University. He had worked there for ten years before becoming a professor. In 1978, he was chosen to be a fellow of the Royal Society of London. This is a special honor for scientists.
His Scientific Work
Studying Cell Growth
Murdoch Mitchison was a leader in the field of cellular biology. This is the study of cells, which are the basic building blocks of all living things.
He used a type of yeast called Schizosaccharomyces pombe for his research. Yeast is a tiny living thing. He used it as a "model system" to learn about cells. This means he studied the yeast to understand how all cells grow and divide.
Mentoring a Nobel Prize Winner
Mitchison was also a mentor to other scientists. He advised Paul Nurse, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 2001. This shows how important Mitchison's work was to the world of science.
