Leonard Arthur "Len" Herzenberg (November 5, 1931 – October 27, 2013) was an immunologist,

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

and professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. His contributions to the development of

cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

made it possible to sort viable cells by their specific properties.

Education

Herzenberg was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

U.S.A. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

He received his bachelor's degree in 1952 from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

in biology and chemistry. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. from

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in biochemistry with a specialization in immunology for studies on

cytochrome Cytochromes are redox-active proteins containing a heme, with a central Fe atom at its core, as a cofactor. They are involved in electron transport chain and redox catalysis. They are classified according to the type of heme and its mode of bin ...

Neurospora ''Neurospora'' is a genus of Ascomycete fungi. The genus name, meaning "nerve spore" refers to the characteristic striations on the spores that resemble axons. The best known species in this genus is '' Neurospora crassa'', a common model organ ...

Career

After school he was a postdoctoral fellow at the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

, working in France at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

. He returned to the United States in 1957 and worked for the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

as an officer in the Public Health Service department. He started working at Stanford in 1959. He eventually earned the title Professor of Genetics. In 1970 Herzenberg developed the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) which revolutionized immunology and cancer biology, and is the basis for purification of adult

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

s. During a sabbatical in the laboratory of Cesar Milstein between 1976 and 1977, Herzenberg coined the term

hybridoma Hybridoma technology is a method for producing large numbers of identical antibodies (also called monoclonal antibodies). This process starts by injecting a mouse (or other mammal) with an antigen that provokes an immune response. A type of white ...

for hybrid cells that result from the fusion of B cells and myeloma cells.

Personal life

Herzenberg and his wife, Leonore Herzenberg, ran the Herzenberg Laboratory at Stanford together until his death. Their daughter,

Jana Herzen Jana Herzen (born April 24, 1959 in San Francisco), is a singer-songwriter with folk, world, rock and jazz influences who founded Motéma Music, a Harlem-based record label focused on virtuosic jazz and world music. Prior to founding the label ...

, is a singer-songwriter and the founder of

Motéma Music Motéma Music is a jazz and world music record label in the United States. It was founded in 2003 in San Francisco Bay Area. This record label’s catalog spans genres, cultures, and generations and has received Grammy recognition for over twen ...

. He died on October 27, 2013, aged 81.

Awards and honours

Herzenberg received a range of honours and awards during his life including: * 1998

American Association of Immunologists Lifetime Achievement Award The American Association of Immunologists Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed by the American Association of Immunologists (AAI). It has been awarded annually to a single AAI member since 1994. Winners Source: See also * Li ...

* 2002

Edwin F. Ullman Award The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (died ...

American Association of Clinical Chemistry American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

* 2004 Special Novartis Prize for Immunology (the only winner of this award) * 2005

Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...

Award in Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology,

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It ...

* 2006 Kyoto award for his work in

; * 2007 Ceppellini Award, International Foundation for Research in Experimental Medicine, with his wife Lee Herzenberg for "their internationally recognized contributions to medicine" * 201
ABRF Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions to Biomolecular Technologies

References

External links

Kyoto Award; * ;
Pincock, Stephen (9 June 2006) "Herzenberg wins Kyoto Prize" ''The Scientist: Magazine of the Life Sciences'' 2006(June 9):

"A Conversation with Leonard and Leonore Herzenberg"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herzenberg, Leonard 1931 births Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 2013 deaths American immunologists Jewish physicians American geneticists Jewish microbiologists Jewish American scientists Stanford University School of Medicine faculty California Institute of Technology alumni People from Stanford, California Brooklyn College alumni 21st-century American Jews Kyoto laureates in Advanced Technology