Tibor Gánti (10 September 1933 – 15 April 2009) was a Hungarian
theoretical biologist 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 ...
, who is best known for his theory of the
chemoton, a model for defining the minimal nature of life.
He taught industrial biochemistry at
Faculty of Science of the
Eötvös University, and theoretical biology at
University of Gödöllő,
József Attila University, and Eötvös University.
Early life and education
Tibor Gánti worked as laboratory assistant at the Bacteriological Laboratory, Factory of Canned Food at
Dunakeszi from 1951-1952. He then moved to Photochemical Research Institute of
Vác
Vác (; ; ; ) is a thousand-year old city in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''.
Location
Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank of the Danube river, below t ...
in 1953-1954. From 1958 to 1965 he was the head of Yeast Laboratory, Yeast Factory,
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. In the meantime he completed a diploma in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Budapest in 1958, and a
Dr. techn. (PhD) in 1962. Between 1965 and 1974 he was the head of biochemical department at the Reanal Factory of Laboratory Chemicals in Budapest. He was awarded a doctorate in biological science by the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1980.
[
Academic career
Gánti joined ]Eötvös Loránd University
Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...
as a guest lecturer of industrial biochemistry in 1968 and taught there until 1972. In 1974, he became a guest lecturer in theoretical biology at the University of Gödöllő
Gödöllő, officially the City of Gödöllő, is a city in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is 34,396 according to the 2010 census and is growing rapidly. It can b ...
. Between 1975 and 1979 he taught theoretical biology at József Attila University, Szeged
Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...
. He became guest professor of the theoretical biology at Eötvös University in 1978 up to 1999.[
]
Chemoton
Gánti formulated a theory about the fundamental nature of living organisms, presented as a model called the chemoton in 1971. According to the chemoton model, of necessity, living organisms should have a basic autocatalytic subsystem consisting of metabolism
Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...
and a replication process, and a membrane
A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. Bi ...
enclosing these functions.
His theory may be the most significant contribution to theoretical biology for understanding the chemical basis and origin of life
Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from abiotic component, non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to organism, living entities on ...
,
Political career
Gánti founded the Alliance for the Protection of Nature and Society (TTVSZ) that received 0.03 percent of the votes and won no seats in the 1990 parliamentary election. He ran as a candidate on the national list of the National Democratic Alliance in the 1994 parliamentary election, but did not obtain a mandate.[ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 899. ]
Awards
*1982 Herman Otto prize
*1986 MTESz prize
*1989 Pro Natura medal
Works
* ''Forradalom az élet kutatásában'' (1966), Gondolat, Budapest
* ''Az élet princípiuma'' (1971), Gondolat, Budapest
* ''A chemoton–elmélet alapjai'' (1974), Fizikai Szemle.
* ''A Theory of Biochemical Supersystems and Its Application to Problems of Natural and Artificial Biogenesis'' (1979), Akadémiai, Budapest–University Park Press, Baltimore,
* ''Chemotonelmélet I. A fluid automaták elméleti alapjai'' (1984), OMIKK, Budapest
* ''The Principle of Life'' (1987), OMIKK, Budapest
* ''Chemotonelmélet II. Az élő rendszerek elmélete'' (1989), OMIKK, Budapest
* ''The Principles of Life'' (2003), Oxford University Press,
* ''Chemoton Theory. Vol. I. Theory of Fluid Machineries'' (2003), Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York
* ''Chemoton Theory. Vol. II. Theory of Living Systems'' (2003), Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganti, Tibor
1933 births
2009 deaths
Hungarian biochemists
People from Vác
Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University