![]() Neurath's paper and Astbury's data inspired H. Hans Neurath was the first to show that Astbury's models could not be correct in detail, because they involved clashes of atoms. Although incorrect in their details, Astbury's models were correct in essence and correspond to modern elements of secondary structure, the α-helix and the β-strand (Astbury's nomenclature was kept), which were developed twenty years later by Linus Pauling and Robert Corey in 1951. Astbury proposed that (1) the unstretched protein molecules formed a helix (which he called the α-form) and (2) the stretching caused the helix to uncoil, forming an extended state (which he called the β-form). The data suggested that the unstretched fibres had a coiled molecular structure with a characteristic repeat of 5.1 Å (=0.51 nm). In the early 1930s, Astbury showed that there were drastic changes in the diffraction of moist wool or hair fibres as they are stretched significantly (100%). ( Wool consists of keratin.) These substances did not produce sharp patterns of spots like crystals, but the patterns provided physical limits on any proposed structures. X-ray diffraction studies of fibrous proteins Īt Leeds Astbury studied the properties of fibrous substances such as keratin and collagen with funding from the textile industry. In later life he was given many awards and honorary degrees. ![]() He is commemorated by the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology at Leeds. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1940. He held the chair until his death in 1961. He remained at Leeds for the remainder of his career, being appointed Reader in Textile Physics in 1937 and Professor of Biomolecular Structure in 1946. In 1928, Astbury was appointed Lecturer in Textile Physics at the University of Leeds. Astbury showed great enthusiasm for his studies and published papers in the journal Classic Crystallography, such as on the structure of tartaric acid. Fellow students included many eminent scientists, including Kathleen Lonsdale and J. ![]() He later returned to Cambridge and finished his last year with a specialization in physics.Īfter graduating from Cambridge, Astbury worked with William Bragg, first at University College London and then, in 1923, at the Davy-Faraday Laboratory at the Royal Institution in London. A poor medical rating following appendectomy resulted in his posting in 1917 to Cork, Ireland with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Īfter two terms at Cambridge, his studies were interrupted by service during the First World War. ![]() After becoming head boy and winning the Duke of Sutherland's gold medal, Astbury won the only local scholarship available and went up to Jesus College, Cambridge. Īstbury might well have become a potter but, luckily, won a scholarship to Longton High School, where his interests were shaped by the Headmaster and second master, both chemists. Astbury also had a younger brother, Norman, with whom he shared a love of music. His father, William Edwin Astbury, was a potter and provided comfortably for his family. Astbury was the fourth child of seven, born in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. ![]()
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