Richard Penry Ambler (26 May 1933 – 27 December 2013) was an English

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

who conducted groundbreaking research into the evolution of

antibiotic-resistant bacteria Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance. Viruses evolve antiviral resistance. ...

. Ambler was the first scientist to publish an amino acid sequence of a bacterial protein, and had a long academic career at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Early life and education

Ambler was born on 26 May 1933 in

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Anne Evans, a civil servant, and Henry Ambler, a state-employed chemist. In 1940, the family moved to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, India, where Ambler's father conducted wartime

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

research. Ambler later returned to England to attend

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

at Haileybury, before heading to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

in 1954 to study natural sciences. He remained at Cambridge to complete his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

on bacterial proteins, under the tutelage of the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning scientist Fred Sanger. In 1963, Ambler published the first

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

sequence of a bacterial protein, developing new methods of protein sequencing to determine the structure of the

mitochondria A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

l cytochrome ''c'' protein. Cytochrome ''c'' remains an important object of study for modern biologists.

Academic career and bacterial research

In 1965, Ambler joined the newly created Department of Molecular Biology at the

. He began a longstanding research project on the increasing resistance of certain bacteria to

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

and other

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

s, making important discoveries related to bacterial gene transfer 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 ...

development. In particular, Ambler found that horizontal gene transfer played a key role in the development of antibiotic resistance. Ambler continued to sequence bacterial electron-transfer proteins, primarily

Cytochrome C The cytochrome complex, or cyt ''c'', is a small hemeprotein found loosely associated with the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. It belongs to the cytochrome c family of proteins and plays a major role in cell apoptosis. Cytochrome c is hig ...

and

Rubredoxin Rubredoxins are a class of low-molecular-weight iron-containing proteins found in sulfur-metabolizing bacteria and archaea. Sometimes rubredoxins are classified as iron-sulfur proteins; however, in contrast to iron-sulfur proteins, rubredoxins do ...

from photosynthetic and other bacteria throughout his career and made significant contributions to bacterial phylogenetics. Ambler was particularly interested in the potential for the wider significance of horizontal gene transfer in evolution, influencing Carl Woese's later perspective. He headed the Department of Molecular Biology between 1984 and 1990, helping to reorganize it into more specialized sub-departments, and became a member of the

European Molecular Biology Organisation The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 1,800 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

in 1985. He retired from the University of Edinburgh in the mid-1990s, and died in Edinburgh in December 2013.

Personal life

Ambler was married twice, first to

roboticist Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

Pat Waddington and later to Susan Hewlett. He was survived by two daughters, four step-daughters and seven grandchildren. He had a keen interest in

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, and was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

References

External links

University of Edinburgh obituary of Ambler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambler, Richard 1933 births 2013 deaths English molecular biologists English medical researchers Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Edinburgh