Gerald Maurice Edelman | Biography, Nobel Prize, & Facts

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data-href="/media/1/178959/258248">Gerald Maurice Edelman</a> <span><span>Gerald Maurice Edelman, c. 1970–85.</span></span> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <span class="link-blue">(more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </div><div class="topic-header"> <div class="d-flex align-items-top justify-content-between"> <div class="d-flex flex-column"> <div> <div> <h1>Gerald Maurice Edelman</h1></div> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">American physical chemist</div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="178959"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 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For that work, he shared the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nobel-Prize" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nobel Prize</a> for Physiology or Medicine in 1972 with British biochemist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rodney-Robert-Porter" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rodney Porter</a>. Edelman also made significant contributions to developmental <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/biology" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">biology</a> and neurobiology.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Edelman received an M.D. degree from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Pennsylvania" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">University of Pennsylvania</a> (1954) and then served two years in the Army Medical Corps in Paris. During that time he became intrigued by questions concerning the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/immune-system" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">immune system</a>, and upon his return to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> he enrolled at Rockefeller Institute (now called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rockefeller-University" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rockefeller University</a>) in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-City" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York City</a>. He earned a Ph.D. in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/physical-chemistry" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">physical chemistry</a> in 1960 and continued his immunological research as a member of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="faculty" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/faculty" data-type="EB">faculty</a> at Rockefeller, becoming a full professor in 1966.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">As a graduate student, Edelman began to study antibodies, and by 1969 he and his colleagues had constructed a precise model of an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/antibody" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">antibody</a> molecule. Edelman’s group narrowly beat a rival group of British investigators led by Porter to this goal. Both researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize for the enormous contributions they made to the field of <span id="ref700400"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/immunology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">immunology</a>.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the 1970s Edelman shifted his research to focus on questions outside of immunology: specifically, how the body—the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/brain" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">brain</a> in particular—develops. In 1975 he discovered substances called <span id="ref700401"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/cell-adhesion-molecule" class="md-crosslink ">cell adhesion molecules</a> (CAMs), which “glue” cells together to form tissues. Edelman found that, as the brain develops, CAMs bind neurons together to form the brain’s basic circuitry. His work led to the construction of a general theory of brain development and function called <span id="ref700402"></span>neuronal group selection, which he explained in a trilogy of books (1987–89) for a scientific audience and in <em><span id="ref700403"></span>Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind</em> (1992) for laypersons. He also wrote <em>Wider than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness</em> (2004) and <em>Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge</em> (2006).</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">From 1981 Edelman served as director of the Neurosciences Institute, which he founded at Rockefeller University. In 1993 he moved the institute to the La Jolla neighbourhood of San Diego. From 1995 the institute was part of the <span id="ref1296019"></span>Scripps Research Institute campus; it moved to another location in La Jolla in 2012. Edelman also formed and chaired (1992) the neurobiology department of the Scripps Research Institute and was a member (from 1996) of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":178959,"pageLength":403,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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