View source for John Kendrew

{{Short description|English biochemist & crystallographer (1917–1997)}}
{{For|the Industrial Revolution-era designer|John Kendrew (inventor)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = John Kendrew Nobel.jpg
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|size=100%|country=GBR|CBE|FRS}}
| image_size        = 200px
| birth_name        = John Cowdery Kendrew
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1917|3|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Oxford]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1997|8|23|1917|3|24|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Cambridge]], England
| field             = [[Crystallography]]
| work_institution  = [[MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology]]<br>[[Peterhouse, Cambridge]]<br>[[Royal Air Force]]
| education         = [[Clifton College]], [[University of Cambridge]]
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| thesis_title      = X-ray studies of certain crystalline proteins : the crystal structure of foetal and adult sheep haemoglobins and of horse myoglobin
| thesis_year       = 1949
| thesis_url        = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648050
| notable_students  = [[James D. Watson]] (postdoc)<ref name=atree/>
| academic_advisors = [[Max Perutz]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Hugh Huxley]]<ref>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Investigations of biological structures by X-ray methods : the structure of muscle|first=Hugh Esmor|last=Huxley|date=1953|url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=35871|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.604904}}|website=lib.cam.ac.uk|oclc=885437514|access-date=4 December 2017|archive-date=19 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519183634/https://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=35871|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=atree>{{cite web|url=https://academictree.org/chemistry/peopleinfo.php?pid=1944|website=academictree.org|title=John Kendrew academic genealogy}}</ref>
* [[Lubert Stryer]]<ref name=atree/>}}
| known_for         = [[Heme|Haem]]-containing [[protein]]s
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] (1962)
* [[Royal Medal]] (1965)}}
| module            = {{Infobox military person | embed=yes
   |nickname=
   |allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}}
   |branch= {{air force|United Kingdom}}
   |serviceyears= 1941–1945
   |rank=[[Wing commander|Wing Commander]] ([[Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve|RAFVR]])
   |unit=
   |commands=
   |battles=[[Second World War]]
   |awards= 
   |relations=
   |signature = }}
}}

'''Sir John Cowdery Kendrew''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FRS}}<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Holmes | first1 = K. C. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2001.0018 | title = Sir John Cowdery Kendrew. 24 March 1917 - 23 August 1997: Elected F.R.S. 1960 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 47 | pages = 311–332 | year = 2001 | pmid =  15124647| doi-access = free | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0028-EC77-7 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> (24 March 1917 &ndash; 23 August 1997) was an [[England|English]] [[biochemist]], [[crystallography|crystallographer]], and science administrator.  Kendrew shared the 1962 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] with [[Max Perutz]], for their work at the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] to investigate the structure of [[heme|haem]]-containing [[protein]]s.

==Education and early life==
Kendrew was born in [[Oxford]], son of [[Wilfrid George Kendrew]], [[reader (academic rank)|reader]] in [[climatology]] in the [[University of Oxford]], and [[Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà|Evelyn May Graham Sandburg]], art historian. After preparatory school at the [[Dragon School]] in Oxford, he was educated at [[Clifton College]]<ref>"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p462: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948</ref> in [[Bristol]], 1930–1936. He attended [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] in 1936, as a Major Scholar, graduating in chemistry in 1939. He spent the early months of [[World War II]] doing research on reaction kinetics, and then became a member of the Air Ministry Research Establishment, working on [[radar]]. In 1940 he became engaged in operational research at the [[Royal Air Force]] headquarters; commissioned a [[squadron leader]] on 17 September 1941,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35301|supp=|page=5793|date=7 October 1941}}</ref> he was appointed an honorary wing commander on 8 June 1944,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36633|supp=y|page=3562|date=28 July 1944}}</ref> and relinquished his commission on 5 June 1945.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37168|supp=y|page=3552|date=6 July 1945}}</ref> He was awarded his PhD after the war in 1949.<ref name=kphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=X-ray studies of certain crystalline proteins : the crystal structure of foetal and adult sheep haemoglobins and of horse myoglobin|first=John Cowdery|last=Kendrew|date=1949|url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=39466|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.648050}}|website=lib.cam.ac.uk|access-date=4 December 2017|archive-date=16 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916060018/https://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=39466|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Research and career==
During the war years, he became increasingly interested in biochemical problems, and decided to work on the structure of proteins.

===Crystallography===
In 1945 he approached [[Max Perutz]] in the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] in [[Cambridge]]. [[Joseph Barcroft]], a respiratory physiologist, suggested he might make a comparative protein crystallographic study of adult and foetal sheep haemoglobin, and he started that work.

In 1947 he became a Fellow of [[Peterhouse, Cambridge|Peterhouse]]; and the [[Medical Research Council (UK)|Medical Research Council]] (MRC) agreed to create a research unit for the study of the molecular structure of biological systems, under the direction of Sir [[Lawrence Bragg]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1962/kendrew/biographical/|title = John C. Kendrew Biographical}}</ref> In 1954 he became a Reader at the Davy-Faraday Laboratory of the [[Royal Institution]] in [[London]].

===Crystal structure of myoglobin===
[[File:KendrewMyoglobin.jpg|thumb|300px|John Kendrew with model of myoglobin in progress. Copyright by the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.]]
Kendrew shared the 1962 [[Nobel Prize]] for [[chemistry]] with [[Max Perutz]] for determining the first atomic structures of [[protein]]s using [[X-ray crystallography]]. Their work was done at what is now the [[MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology]] in [[Cambridge]]. Kendrew determined the structure of the protein [[myoglobin]], which stores oxygen in [[muscle]] [[cell (biology)|cells]].<ref name="Stoddart">{{cite journal |last1=Stoddart |first1=Charlotte |title=Structural biology: How proteins got their close-up |journal=Knowable Magazine |date=1 March 2022 |doi=10.1146/knowable-022822-1|doi-access=free |url=https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2022/structural-biology-how-proteins-got-their-closeup |access-date=25 March 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1947 the MRC agreed to make a research unit for the Study of the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems. The original studies were on the structure of sheep haemoglobin, but when this work had progressed as far as was possible using the resources then available, Kendrew embarked on the study of [[myoglobin]], a molecule only a quarter the size of the haemoglobin molecule. His initial source of raw material was [[horse]] heart, but the crystals thus obtained were too small for X-ray analysis. Kendrew realized that the oxygen-conserving tissue of [[diving mammals]] could offer a better prospect, and a chance encounter led to his acquiring a large chunk of [[whale meat]] from Peru. Whale myoglobin did give large crystals with clean X-ray diffraction patterns.<ref name="Stoddart"/> However, the problem still remained insurmountable, until in 1953 [[Max Perutz]] discovered that the [[phase problem]] in analysis of the diffraction patterns could be solved by [[multiple isomorphous replacement]] — comparison of patterns from several crystals; one from the native protein, and others that had been soaked in solutions of heavy metals and had metal ions introduced in different well-defined positions. An electron density map at 6 [[angstrom]] (0.6 [[nanometre]]) resolution was obtained by 1957, and by 1959 an atomic model could be built at 2 angstrom (0.2&nbsp;nm) resolution.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=18990802 |title=Structure of myoglobin: A three-dimensional Fourier synthesis at 2 A. resolution. | doi=10.1038/185422a0 | volume=185 |date=February 1960 |journal=Nature |pages=422–7 | last1 = Kendrew | first1 = JC | last2 = Dickerson | first2 = RE | last3 = Strandberg | first3 = BE |issue=4711 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=1960Natur.185..422K |s2cid=4167651 }}</ref>

===Later career===
In 1963, Kendrew became one of the founders of the [[European Molecular Biology Organization]]; he also founded the ''[[Journal of Molecular Biology]]'' and was for many years its editor-in-chief. He became Fellow of the American Society of Biological Chemists in 1967 and honorary member of the International Academy of Science, Munich. In 1974, he succeeded in persuading governments to establish the [[European Molecular Biology Laboratory]] (EMBL) in [[Heidelberg]] and became its first director. He was knighted in 1974.<ref name="frs"/> From 1974 to 1979, he was a Trustee of the [[British Museum]], and from 1974 to 1988 he was successively Secretary General, Vice-President, and President of the [[International Council of Scientific Unions]].

After his retirement from EMBL, Kendrew became President of [[St John's College, Oxford|St John's College]] at the [[University of Oxford]], a post he held from 1981 to 1987. In his will, he designated his bequest to St John's College for studentships in science and in music, for students from developing countries.  The ''Kendrew Quadrangle'' at St John's College in Oxford, officially opened on 16 October 2010, is named after him.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/about-college/college-buildings/21st-century/ | title=The 21st Century: Kendrew Quadrangle | publisher=St John's College, Oxford | year=2020 | access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>

Kendrew was married to the former Elizabeth Jarvie (née Gorvin) from 1948 to 1956.  Their marriage ended in divorce.  Kendrew was subsequently partners with the artist Ruth Harris.<ref name="frs"/> He had no surviving children.<ref>{{cite news | author=Wolfgang Saxon | title=John C. Kendrew Dies at 80; Biochemist Won Nobel in '62 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/30/world/john-c-kendrew-dies-at-80-biochemist-won-nobel-in-62.html | work=The New York Times | date=1997-08-30 | access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref>

A biography of Kendrew, entitled ''A Place in History: The Biography of John C. Kendrew'', by [[Paul M. Wassarman]] was published by [[Oxford University Press]] in 2020.

===Selected publications===
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
*{{cite journal |pmid=18144277 |date=Apr 1949 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |title=Foetal haemoglobin |volume=8 |issue=30 |pages=80–5 |issn=0160-9327 |journal=Endeavour}}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13214049 |doi=10.1038/174946a0 |date=Nov 1954 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |last2=Parrish |last3=Marrack |last4=Orlans |title=The species specificity of myoglobin |volume=174 |issue=4438 |pages=946–9 |issn=0028-0836 |journal=Nature |first2=RG |first3=JR |first4=ES|bibcode = 1954Natur.174..946K |s2cid=4281674 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13235845 |doi=10.1038/175206b0 |date=Jan 1955 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |last2=Parris |title=Imidazole complexes of myoglobin and the position of the haem group |volume=175 |issue=4448 |pages=206–7 |issn=0028-0836 |journal=Nature |first2=RG|bibcode = 1955Natur.175..206K |s2cid=37160617 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13369569 |doi=10.1038/178905a0 |date=Oct 1956 |last1=Ingram |first1=DJ |last2=Kendrew |title=Orientation of the haem group in myoglobin and its relation to the polypeptide chain direction |volume=178 |issue=4539 |pages=905–6 |issn=0028-0836 |journal=Nature |first2=JC|bibcode = 1956Natur.178..905I |s2cid=26921410 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13517261 |doi=10.1038/181662a0 |date=Mar 1958 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |last2=Bodo |last3=Dintzis |last4=Parrish |last5=Wyckoff |last6=Phillips |title=A three-dimensional model of the myoglobin molecule obtained by x-ray analysis |volume=181 |issue=4610 |pages=662–6 |issn=0028-0836 |journal=Nature |first2=G |first3=HM |first4=RG |first5=H |first6=DC|bibcode = 1958Natur.181..662K |s2cid=4162786 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13672267 |date=Jul 1959 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |title=Structure and function in myoglobin and other proteins |volume=18 |issue=2, Part 1 |pages=740–51 |issn=0014-9446 |journal=Federation Proceedings}}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13752474 |doi=10.1038/190666a0 |date=May 1961 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |last2=Watson |last3=Strandberg |last4=Dickerson |last5=Phillips |last6=Shore |title=The amino-acid sequence x-ray methods, and its correlation with chemical data |volume=190 |pages=666–70 |issn=0028-0836 |journal=Nature |first2=HC |first3=BE |first4=RE |first5=DC |first6=VC|bibcode = 1961Natur.190..666K |issue=4777|s2cid=39469512 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=13783432 |doi=10.1038/190670a0 |date=May 1961 |last1=Watson |first1=HC |last2=Kendrew |title=The amino-acid sequence of sperm whale myoglobin. Comparison between the amino-acid sequences of sperm whale myoglobin and of human hæmoglobin |volume=190 |pages=670–2 |issn=0028-0836 |journal=Nature |first2=JC|bibcode = 1961Natur.190..670W |issue=4777|s2cid=4170869 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=14455128 |date=Dec 1961 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |title=The three-dimensional structure of a protein molecule |volume=205 |pages=96–110 |issn=0036-8733 | journal=Scientific American | doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1261-96 | issue=6 | bibcode=1961SciAm.205f..96K }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=14031911 |doi=10.1016/0010-406X(62)90009-9 |date=Oct 1962 |last1=Kendrew |first1=JC |title=The structure of globular proteins |volume=4 |pages=249–52 |issn=0010-406X |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology |issue=2–4}}
*{{cite book |first=John C. |last=Kendrew |year=1966 |title=The thread of life: an introduction to molecular biology |location=London |publisher=Bell & Hyman |isbn=978-0-7135-0618-1}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* John Finch; 'A Nobel Fellow on Every Floor', Medical Research Council 2008, 381 pp, {{ISBN|978-1-84046-940-0}}; this book is all about the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.
* [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-place-in-history-9780199732043?cc=us&lang=en& Oxford University Press, page on Paul M. Wassarman, ''A Place in History''], {{ISBN|9780199732043}}, 2020

==External links==
* {{Nobelprize|name=John C. Kendrew}}
* {{NPG name}}

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{{succession box | title = [[St John's College, Oxford|President of St John's College, Oxford]] | before = [[Richard Southern|Sir Richard Southern]] | after = [[William Hayes (academic)|William Hayes]] | years = 1981–1987}}
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{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{1962 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendrew, John Cowdery}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:British crystallographers]]
[[Category:20th-century English biologists]]
[[Category:English biophysicists]]
[[Category:English molecular biologists]]
[[Category:English Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Structural biologists]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]
[[Category:People educated at The Dragon School]]
[[Category:Scientists from Oxford]]
[[Category:Presidents of St John's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Presidents of the British Science Association]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Trustees of the British Museum]]
[[Category:X-ray crystallography]]
[[Category:20th-century British biologists]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force wing commanders]]
[[Category:20th-century British physicists]]