Ethel Bidwell PhD (12 July 1919 – 23 October 2003) was a British research scientist who investigated

blood coagulation Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The process of coagulatio ...

and whose discoveries have been used to successfully perform major surgery on patients with severe

haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

Biography

Bidwell was born on 12 July 1919 in

Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,9 ...

, Lancashire. She studied to become an

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

chemist. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Bidwell worked at the

Wellcome Foundation The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predeces ...

on the toxins of anaerobic bacteria involved in

gas gangrene Gas gangrene (also known as clostridial myonecrosis) is a bacterial infection that produces tissue gas in gangrene. This deadly form of gangrene usually is caused by '' Clostridium perfringens'' bacteria. About 1,000 cases of gas gangrene are r ...

. In 1950, Bidwell joined the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

team headed by Gwyn Macfarlane. Two years later, she began to study ox and pig plasma concentration and selective extraction of the blood-clotting protein

factor VIII Coagulation factor VIII (Factor VIII, FVIII, also known as anti-hemophilic factor (AHF)) is an essential blood clotting protein. In humans, it is encoded by ''F8'' gene. Defects in this gene result in hemophilia A, an X-linked bleeding disorder ...

. For her research, she would collect the animal blood from local slaughterhouses, which she transported in large glass containers. By 1953, she had devised a technique to extract and concentrate bovine factor VIII that was 8000 times stronger than human

blood plasma Blood plasma is a light Amber (color), amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains Blood protein, proteins and other constituents of whole blood in Suspension (chemistry), suspension. It makes up ...

. This was a major clinical advance because could be stored frozen. The research was published in 1954. In 1959 Bidwell was working on the preparation of human

coagulation Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a thrombus, blood clot. It results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The process of co ...

factors at the Medical Research Council Blood Coagulation Research Unit at

Churchill Hospital The Churchill Hospital is a teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It is managed by the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The original hospital on the site was built in 1940 with the intention of providing medical aid to ...

, Headington, Oxford, assisted by Ross Dike. Bidwell's research was used to successfully perform major surgery on patients with severe haemophilia through

intravenous Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

therapeutic use, with the first patient (after clinical trials) recorded in 1961. Bidwell retired in 1981. She died in 2003 in Durham, England, aged 84.

Legacy

In 1999, British neurochemist and head of the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group (from 2012 to 2017) Tilli Tansey wrote of inviting Bidwell to participate in a witness seminar convened by the ''Makers of Modern Biomedicine: Testimonies and Legacy'' project ''a''t the

Wellcome Collection Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the W ...

and chaired by Christine Lee:

References

External links

* 1919 births Place of birth missing 2003 deaths Place of death missing British scientists Haemophilia British medical researchers 20th-century English women scientists British women medical researchers Scientists from Lancashire People from Haslingden {{Authority control

Biography

Legacy

Further reading

References

External links