Norman Pirie

Norman Pirie
Norman Pirie
Born	1 July 1907
Died	29 March 1997
Nationality	England
Fields	virology
Institutions	Rothamsted Experimental Station
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Known for	crystallization of tobacco mosaic virus
Notable awards	Copley Medal in 1971

Norman Wingate Pirie FRS (1 July 1907 - 29 March 1997)-was a British biochemist and virologist who, along with Frederick Bawden, discovered that a virus can be crystallized by isolating tobacco mosaic virus in 1936. This was an important milestone in understanding DNA and RNA.

He taught at his alma mater, Cambridge University, from 1932 to 1940. He later joined the Rothamsted Experimental Station, becoming head of the biochemistry department in 1947.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1949, delivered its Leeuwenhoek Lecture in 1963 and won its Copley Medal in 1971.

[edit] References

Pierpoint, W S (1999), “Norman Wingate Pirie: 1 July 1907-29 March 1997.”, Biographical memoirs of fellows of the Royal Society. Royal Society (Great Britain) 45: 399-415, 1999, PMID:11624286, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11624286>
Fowden, L & Pierpoint, S (1997), “Norman Pirie (1907-97)”, Nature 387 (6633): 560, 1997 Jun 5, PMID:9177338, doi:10.1038/42378, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9177338>

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