George Ernest Rogers 1927–2021
Racheline (Lynn) Rogers
A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
* Correspondence to: lynn.rogers@adelaide.edu.au
Historical Records of Australian Science 34(2) 144-157 https://doi.org/10.1071/HR23004
Published: 22 June 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
George Rogers (1927–2021) was elected to Fellowship of the Academy in 1977 for his outstanding contributions to our knowledge of the molecular structure of keratins and the biochemistry of keratinisation. He was a pioneer in the application of electron microscopy to hair and wool ultrastructure and to that of the hair follicle. He discovered citrulline in keratin proteins, and the enzymes, roles, and histochemical localisation of transglutaminase and peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD). He was the first to demonstrate ribosomal-dependent keratin protein synthesis in 1965 followed by detailed studies of the biosynthesis of hair keratin proteins. His research initiated studies on the molecular events in the development of the feather follicle and later led to the cloning and characterisation of the clustered genes of feather and related avian keratins. He also cloned and characterised genes for the three classes of wool keratin proteins and studied the transcription of keratin genes. In 1977, he was awarded a DSc by the University of Adelaide in recognition for his work. In 2013, he was made an Officer in the Order of Australia.
Keywords: biochemistry, hair and wool structure, historical article, keratin, microscope, molecular biology, wool synthesis.
References
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