Sir Frederick BawdenBorn 18 Aug 1908; died 8 Feb 1972 at age 63.Frederick Charles Bawden was an English plant pathologist whose research interest was in plant viruses, and how best to ensure that a farmer could grow healthy and productive crops. With his associates, in 1937, he discovered that the tobacco mozaic virus contained ribonucleic acid (RNA). Nucleic acids were known to be present in all cells, but this was the first time that RNA was observed in a virus, which is a subcellular infectious agent. Nucleic acids have subsequently been found in all identifiable viruses. (Since the tobacco mosaic virus was first identified by Martinus Beijerinck (1898), it has proved particularly amenable to laboratory research.). Bawden travelled a number of times to Africa to help solve problems with diseased crops.« |
