- Neé:
- Muriel Wheldale
- Born:
- March 31, 1880, Birmingham, Eng.
- Died:
- May 19, 1932 (aged 52)
- Subjects Of Study:
- anthocyanin
- heredity
Muriel Wheldale Onslow
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Who was Muriel Wheldale Onslow?
Muriel Wheldale Onslow (1880–1932) was a British biochemist known for her contributions to the foundation of modern genetics. Her study of flower color inheritance in snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) demonstrated that traits are inherited in specific proportions, affirming Mendelian inheritance.
Working at the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women at the University of Cambridge, she collaborated with William Bateson, who had rediscovered Gregor Mendel's work. Her landmark 1907 paper, "The Inheritance of Flower Colour in Antirrhinum majus," reported these findings. Wheldale Onslow also researched the biochemistry of pigment molecules in plants, particularly anthocyanins. She became a university lecturer in biochemistry at Cambridge in 1926, one of the first women to hold such a position.
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What field of science did Muriel Wheldale Onslow study?
Muriel Wheldale Onslow was a British biochemist known for her work on the inheritance of flower color in snapdragons, which contributed to modern genetics.
At the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women at the University of Cambridge, Wheldale worked with biologist William Bateson and demonstrated that traits are inherited by offspring in specific proportions, affirming Mendelian inheritance theory. In 1907, she reported her findings in "The Inheritance of Flower Colour in Antirrhinum majus." She also researched the biochemistry of pigment molecules in plants.
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What is a biochemist, and what do they do?
A biochemist studies the chemical processes and substances in living organisms, including plants, animals, and microorganisms. They investigate metabolic processes, which involve the breakdown or synthesis of complex molecules, and how these processes relate to genetics, nutrition, medicine, and agriculture.
British biochemist Muriel Wheldale Onslow (1880–1932) studied the inheritance of flower color in snapdragons, contributing to the foundation of modern genetics. Her research also covered the biochemistry of pigment molecules in plants, especially anthocyanins. Later in her career, she became a university lecturer in biochemistry at Cambridge, being one of the first women to hold the position.
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What was Muriel Wheldale Onslow best known for researching?
Muriel Wheldale Onslow, a British biochemist, is best known for her research on the inheritance of flower color in snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus). Her work, conducted at the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women at the University of Cambridge, contributed to the foundation of modern genetics.
Working with William Bateson, she demonstrated that traits are inherited by offspring in specific proportions, affirming Mendelian inheritance. In 1907, she published her findings in "The Inheritance of Flower Colour in Antirrhinum majus". Wheldale also made important discoveries regarding the biochemistry of pigment molecules, particularly anthocyanins, in plants.
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How did Muriel Wheldale Onslow’s work help us understand plant colors?
Muriel Wheldale Onslow's study of flower color inheritance in snapdragons significantly contributed to our understanding of plant colors and the foundation of modern genetics. Her experiments demonstrated that traits are inherited in specific proportions, affirming Mendelian inheritance.
During her research, Wheldale came to believe that anthocyanin biosynthesis in plants was catalyzed by an oxidase enzyme and associated with photosynthesis and sugar formation. From 1911 to 1914, she isolated and characterized the anthocyanins of snapdragons. By 1916, she had compiled her knowledge of the genetics of pigment inheritance and the biochemistry of anthocyanins in The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants, which explained the chemical basis of inherited traits.
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Why is Muriel Wheldale Onslow considered an important figure in the history of biochemistry?
Muriel Wheldale Onslow is an important figure in biochemistry due to her work on the inheritance of flower color in snapdragons, which significantly contributed to modern genetics. Her experiments affirmed Mendelian inheritance by showing that traits are passed to offspring in specific proportions. In 1907, she published her findings in "The Inheritance of Flower Colour in Antirrhinum majus". Wheldale Onslow's research also included insightful investigations into the biochemistry of pigment molecules, particularly anthocyanins, in plants. Her book, The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants, was the first to explain the chemical basis of inherited traits and was a landmark publication in both genetics and biochemistry.
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Muriel Wheldale Onslow (born March 31, 1880, Birmingham, Eng.—died May 19, 1932) was a British biochemist whose study of the inheritance of flower colour in the common snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) contributed to the foundation of modern genetics. She also made important discoveries concerning the biochemistry of pigment molecules in plants, particularly the group of pigments known as anthocyanins.
Muriel was the only daughter of barrister John Wheldale. She attended an all-girls school in Birmingham before enrolling in Newnham College, Cambridge, where she studied botany (she did not receive a degree, since Cambridge did not offer degrees to women then). In 1902–03 she joined the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women, a research facility shared by the female students and staff of Newnham and Girton colleges. At Balfour, Wheldale worked with British biologist William Bateson, who in 1900 had rediscovered a paper on plant hybrids written by Gregor Mendel and was working to understand the transmission of traits in plants. Wheldale was given space in the Botanic Garden at Cambridge to grow snapdragons. Her experiments with crossing plants of different flower colour affirmed the theory of Mendelian inheritance by demonstrating that inherited traits, rather than being a fusion of parental characters, are separate entities, transmitted to offspring in precise proportions. Wheldale’s landmark paper (“The Inheritance of Flower Colour in Antirrhinum majus”) appeared in 1907, two years after Bateson introduced the term genetics to the describe the field of study concerned with the principles of heredity.
During the course of her research, Wheldale came to believe that anthocyanin biosynthesis in plants was catalyzed by an oxidase enzyme and was associated with photosynthesis and the process of sugar formation. From 1911 to 1914, as part of her investigation of this hypothesis, she isolated and characterized the anthocyanins of snapdragons. Wheldale realized, however, that to thoroughly understand these molecules, she needed formal training in biochemistry, so in 1914 she joined the laboratory of Frederick Gowland Hopkins in the department of biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. The move enabled her to broaden the focus of her research efforts to include the study of metabolism and the chemical structure of plant pigments. By 1916 she had compiled her knowledge of the genetics of pigment inheritance and the biochemistry of anthocyanins in The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants. The work was the first to explain the chemical basis of inherited traits and represented a landmark publication in both genetics and biochemistry. Also in 1916, she met Huia Onslow, who shared her scientific interests. Onslow, paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a diving accident, conducted his research from a home laboratory. With Wheldale’s assistance, his studies became known to colleagues at Cambridge and elsewhere. The two were married in 1919. Huia died three years later.
In 1920 Wheldale Onslow published Practical Plant Biochemistry, and in 1925 she released a second edition of The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants, revised extensively to include information on advances in scientific understanding of anthocyanins. In 1926 she was appointed a university lecturer in biochemistry, becoming one of the first women to hold such a position at Cambridge. The first volume of Principles of Plant Biochemistry, a textbook on the chemical compounds of plants and plant physiology, was published in 1931. The second volume was only partially completed when Wheldale Onslow died the following year, presumably in Cambridge.