Hans Grüneberg (26 May 1907 – 23 October 1982), whose name was also written as Hans Grueneberg and Hans Gruneberg, was a British

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 process ...

. Grüneberg was born in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

–

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

in Germany. He obtained an MD from the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, a PhD in biology from the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He arrived in London in 1933, at the invitation of J.B.S. Haldane and Sir Henry Dale. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1956. Most of his work focused on mouse genetics, in which his speciality was the study of

pleiotropic Pleiotropy () is a condition in which a single gene or genetic variant influences multiple phenotypic traits. A gene that has such multiple effects is referred to as a ''pleiotropic gene''. Mutations in pleiotropic genes can impact several trait ...

effects of

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

s on the development of the mouse skeleton. He was the first person to describe siderocytes and sideroblasts, atypical nucleated

erythrocyte Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (, with -''cyte'' translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells, erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood ce ...

s with granules of iron accumulated in perinuclear

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

. This he reported in the journal ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

''. The Grüneberg ganglion, an olfactory ganglion in rodents, was first described by Hans Grueneberg in 1973.

Career

* Honorary Research Assistant,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, 1933–38 * Moseley Research Student of Royal Society, 1938–42 * Captain,

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, 1942–46 * Reader in Genetics, University College London, 1946–55 * Honorary Director of the Medical Research Council Experimental Genetics Unit at University College London, 1955–1972 * Professor of Genetics University College London, 1956–1974 * Affiliated with the Department of Pathology, Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, Middlesex * Emeritus Professor University College London, from retirement, 1974

Books

*1947. ''Animal genetics and medicine''. Hamish Hamilton, London. *1952. ''The genetics of the mouse''. 2nd ed, revised and enlarged. Nijhoff, The Hague. *1963. ''The pathology of development: a study of inherited skeletal disorders in animals''. Wiley, London.

References

External links

Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics: the Hans Grüneberg papers

Sources

Professor Hans Grüneberg's personal papers archive
is available for study at the Wellcome Collection (some material is digitised and digitally accessible via the website). {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruneberg, Hans 1907 births 1982 deaths Scientists from Wuppertal British geneticists 20th-century British biologists Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II Fellows of the Royal Society Jewish British scientists Academics of University College London 20th-century British medical doctors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom