Keith Roberts Porter | |
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| Born | (1912-06-11)June 11, 1912 Yarmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | May 2, 1997(1997-05-02) (aged 84) Bryn Mawr,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Cell biologist |
Keith Roberts Porter (June 11, 1912 – May 2, 1997) was aCanadian-Americancell biologist. He created pioneering biology techniques and research usingelectron microscopy ofcells. Porter also contributed to developing other experimentalcell culture andnuclear transplantation methods. He was also responsible for naming theendoplasmic reticulum, working on the 9 + 2microtubule structure in theaxoneme ofcilia, and coining the term "microtrabecular lattice." Collaborating with other scientists, he contributed to understanding cellular structures and concepts such ascompartmentalization,flagella,centrioles,fibrin,collagen,T-tubules andsarcoplasmic reticulum. He also introducedmicrotome cutting.
Keith Porter was born inYarmouth,Nova Scotia, on June 11, 1912, the son of Aaron and Josephine Roberts Porter. He finished his undergraduate program atAcadia University in 1934 and became a graduate student atHarvard University.[1] At Harvard, he earned a doctorate (Ph.D.) for his work on frog embryo development in 1938. Following this degree, he married Katherine Elizabeth Lingley, a former student at Acadia University. They had one son, Gregory, who died just over one year later.[2] Starting in the early 1940s, he conducted research atThe Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. He eventually became a citizen of the United States in 1947.
In 1939, Porter was a research assistant at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research under James B. Murphy, a cancer researcher. Porter focused his early work in Murphy's lab on the effect of carcinogens on theembryonic development of rats. Because it was difficult for them to fix these cells properly to the slide, Porter concluded thatosmium tetroxide preserved the cells the best.[3] When Porter made aphotomicrograph of the first cell, he noticed that only the thin sections could be seen. The nuclei region was a dark blob due to all the internal structures surrounding the nucleus. He needed a higher penetration power to see the thicker portions of the cell. Only small sections of thinly sliced cells could be micro-graphed, so Porter focused on how whole cells could be photographed.[3] In conjunction with Joseph Blum, he designed anultramicrotome section of specific tissue thickness to allow the electron microscope to penetrate these cells.[3] By 1956, he became a professor and full member at theRockefeller University.
From 1961 to 1967, Porter returned to Harvard University and was chair of thebiology department (1965–1967). Porter's research at Harvard concerned the sarcoplasmic reticulum and T system; he conducted this work in collaboration withClara Franzini-Amstrong. He then explored the role of microtubules inmotility,cell division, and control of cell shape withLewis Tilney,J. Richard McIntosh and Ursula Goodenough-Johnson.[4]
In 1968, Porter left to work as chair of the new Department ofMolecular,Cellular, andDevelopmental Biology at theUniversity of Colorado Boulder. Porter spearheaded a laboratory dedicated to a higher-voltage (1000 kV)electron microscope, that improved the ability to examine the interior of cells by virtue of its high penetrating power.[5] When he retired, at age 70, the university awarded him an honorary degree and renamed "his" building Porter Biosciences.
Porter became a professor at theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 1984 before joining Lee D. Peachey’s laboratory at theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 1988, post-retirement. UMBC's Keith R. Porter Core Imaging Facility is dedicated to Porter.
Porter helped found theAmerican Society for Cell Biology and the Journal of Cell Biology. The Keith R. Porter Endowment for Cell Biology, founded in 1981, supports an annualKeith R. Porter Lecture at theAmerican Society for Cell Biology conference.
In 1970, Porter, withAlbert Claude andGeorge E. Palade, was awarded theLouisa Gross Horwitz Prize fromColumbia University. In 1974, Porter's colleaguesAlbert Claude,Christian de Duve andGeorge E. Palade were awarded a Nobel Prize "for describing the structure and function of organelles in biological cells," work that Porter is also well known for.[6] Although Porter is known by many as "The Father of Cell Biology," he never officially won aNobel Prize for his achievements and contributions to science.
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