(In 1971, Vane proposed that the mechanism of action of th...)
In 1971, Vane proposed that the mechanism of action of the aspirin-like drugs was through their inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis. Since then, there has been intense interest in the interaction between this diverse group of inhibitors and the enzyme known as cyclooxygenase (COX).
John Robert Vane was a British scientist and biochemist. He studied pain-relief and anti-inflammatory impact of prostaglandins on such physiological things like blood pressure, body temperature, and allergic reactions.
Background
Ethnicity:
John Robert Vane’s father had Russian roots, and his mother was British.
John Robert Vane was born on March 29, 1927, in Tardebigge, Worcestershire, United Kingdom. He was a son of Maurice Vane, owner of a manufacturing company, and Frances Vane (maiden name Fisher), a daughter of farmers.
John had an elder sister and a brother.
Education
John Robert Vane spent his childhood in the suburbs of Birmingham. He began studies at the local school in 1932 and then moved to King Edward High School in Edgbaston.
Vane’s interest in science sparked when he was twelve, and his home became the site of numerous experiments. The strong passion for experiments was supported by his father who constructed a small outhouse from wood which became the first laboratory for the young chemist.
It was not a surprise that he entered the University of Birmingham in 1944 to connect his professional life with chemistry. Upon entering the University, Vane found that the work given to him was not as challenging as he anticipated. However, he continued conducting experiments. At the advice of a professor of Chemistry, Maurice Stacey, Vane decided to enter Oxford University to study pharmacology under Harold Burn after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Birmingham in 1946.
It was Burn who inspired the young scientist to pursue his activity in pharmacology. Vane became a fellow on Oxford’s Therapeutic Research Council for the next two years. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in pharmacology from Oxford in 1949 and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree four years later under the guidance of Dr. Geoffrey Dawes.
John Robert Vane was also a recipient of several honorary Doctorate degrees from Jagiellonian University Medical College, Paris Descartes University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the University of Aberdeen.
The start of John R. Vane’s career can be counted from his service at Yale University which staff he joined in 1953 as an instructor and assistant professor of pharmacology. Upon his return to the United Kingdom two years later, he occupied the post of a senior lecturer in pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons Institute of Basic Medical Sciences.
It was during this period when Vane became interested in prostaglandins, natural compounds, developed from fatty acids which control many bodily functions, which were discovered in the 1930s. For many years after the discovery, scientists were unaware of how they were produced and how they functioned.
By the early 1960s, John Vane expanded upon the procedure known as biological assay (bioassay), by which the strength of a substance is measured by comparing its effects on an organism with those of a standard preparation. Vane developed the dynamic bioassay, which allows scientists to measure more than one substance in blood or body fluids. This method enabled Vane and his colleagues at the Royal College to prove that prostaglandins are produced by many tissues and organs in the body. Further research led the scientists to discover that, unlike hormones, certain prostaglandins are effective only in the areas where they were formed.
In 1961, John R. Vane became an invited reader at the University of London for five years. In 1966, he advanced to professor of experimental pharmacology at the Institute for Basic Medical Sciences and continued his studies. An experiment he conducted in 1969 resulted in the discovery of the methods by which aspirin alleviates pain and reduces inflammation. The results were published in the June 1971 issue of Nature New Biology, a science magazine.
The same year, the scientist resigned his post at the Institute to enter the business world as director of research and development at the Wellcome Foundation (currently Wellcome Trust), a pharmaceutical company. Following up on research by the Swedish chemist Bengt Samuelsson, Vane discovered the existence of prostaglandin with the opposite quality, which inhibits clot formation. With the assistance of the Upjohn Chemical Corporation (currently the Upjohn Company), he isolated the secretion, which he named prostacyclin.
During the 1980s, John R. Vane embarked on a crusade for greater research on new drugs to fight both new diseases, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, known as AIDS, and drug-resistant strains of old diseases, such as malaria. In articles for scientific and medical journals, he stressed the need for greater international cooperation in the search for a cure or vaccine for AIDS and advocated the creation of an Institute for Tropical Diseases to research new drugs to battle disease in the tropics.
In addition to the above-mentioned institutions, Vane also served at different times as a visiting professor at the University of Atlanta, Harvard University, and New York Medical College.
John R. Vane was a member of the National Academy of Science, British Pharmacological Society, Physiological Society, Royal Society, American Physiological Society, American Academy of the Arts and Sciences, Buenos Aires National Academy of Medicine, and the Royal College of Physicians.
Personality
In addition to the many hours, John R. Vane devoted to his work, he found time for his hobbies, such as photography, traveling, snorkeling, and waterskiing.
Interests
photography, traveling
Sport & Clubs
snorkeling, water skiing
Connections
John R. Vane married Elizabeth Daphne Page on April 4, 1948. The family produced two children named Nicola, and Miranda.