Francis John Worsley Roughton (6 June 1899 – 26 April 1972) was an English

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

and

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

. He began to conduct experiments to study the reactions involving

haemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...

and oxygen and went on to make pioneering studies of blood biochemistry and gas interaction kinetics. Along with

Hamilton Hartridge Hamilton Hartridge (7 May 1886 – 13 January 1976) was a British eye physiologist and medical writer.'Obituary: H. Hartridge', ''British Medical Journal'', 20 March 1976, p.716 Known for his ingenious experimentation and instrument construction ...

, he developed continuous monitoring approaches to study liquid-gas binding reactions and

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

kinetics. Roughton was born in

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

and came from a family of

physicians A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Born with congenital

tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal (su ...

he went to study science at Winchester and Cambridge. Because of his heart condition he was not recruited into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. At Cambridge he decided not to follow the family line and began to study physiology after being influenced by

Joseph Barcroft Sir Joseph Barcroft (26 July 1872 – 21 March 1947) was a British physiologist best known for his studies of the oxygenation of blood. Life Born in Newry, County Down into a Quaker family, he was the son of Henry Barcroft DL and Anna Richar ...

. His first research was based on his own heart condition. His research interest was on the absorption of oxygen from the lungs to the blood. In 1923 Roughton became fellow at Trinity College and a lecturer in biochemistry. Another student of Barcroft, Hamilton Hartridge, developed an experimental apparatus consisting of a mixing chamber for two liquids where inflows and outflows could be controlled and studied. They devised spectroscopic techniques to examine oxygen and carbon monoxide binding with haemoglobin. They were able to determine that the reaction could progress rapidly in minute capillaries. In 1927 Roughton became lecturer in physiology and he moved on to the study of chemical kinetics involved in haemoglobin binding. In 1939, Roughton was involved in war-research related to carbon monoxide. Roughton was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1936. In 1947 he succeeded E. K. Rideal as Plummer professor of colloid science at Cambridge. Roughton married physician Alice Hopkinson, daughter of a Cambridge professor married to a German from the Siemens industrialist family, in 1925. They had a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roughton, Francis John Worsley 1899 births 1972 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Physiologists John Humphrey Plummer Professors