Porter, Rodney Robert (1917–1985)

English biochemist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1972 for his work on the chemical structure of antibodies. In 1962 he proposed a structure for human immunoglobulin (antibody) in which the molecule was seen as consisting of four chains.

Porter was born in Liverpool and studied there and at Cambridge. He became professor of immunology at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, in 1960. From 1967 he was professor of biochemistry at Oxford University.

Basing his research on the work of US immunologist Karl Landsteiner, Porter studied the structural basis of the biological activities of antibodies, proposing in 1962 a structure for gamma globulin. He also worked on the structure, assembly, and activation mechanisms of the components of a substance known as complement. This is a protein that is normally present in the blood, but disappears from the serum during most antigen–antibody reactions. In addition, Porter investigated the way in which immunoglobulins interact with complement components and with cell surfaces.