Muriel Wheldale Onslow
Encyclopedia
Muriel Wheldale Onslow was a British biochemist. She was born on March 31, 1880, in Birmingham
, England. She attended the King Edward VI High School
in Birmingham and then matriculated at Newnham College, Cambridge
in 1900.
At Cambridge she majored in Botany. She received no degree from Cambridge, despite taking First Class Honours in both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos, because Cambridge did not award degrees to women until 1948.
In 1903 she joined William Bateson
's genetics lab at Cambridge where she began her study of the inheritance of petal color in Antirrhinum
(snapdragons). This work culminated in the 1916 publication of her first book, "The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants."
In 1914 Onslow joined the biochemistry lab of Frederick Gowland Hopkins, where she pursued the biochemical aspects of petal color, whose genetics she had elucidated at Bateson's lab. In combining genetics and biochemistry she became one of the first biochemical geneticists and paved the way for the later successes of such seminal investigators as Edward Tatum and George Beadle.
In 1919 Onslow married the biochemist Huia Onslow, second son of the 4th Earl of Onslow. Huia Onslow was paraplegic and died in 1922.
In 1926 she was one of the first women appointed as a lecturer at Cambridge.
Muriel Onslow died on May 19, 1932.
In 2010 the Royal Institution
of Great Britain staged a play, entitled "Blooming Snapdragons," about four early-20th-century women biochemists, one of whom was Muriel Onslow.
Practical Plant Biochemistry, 1920
Principles of Plant Biochemistry, Volume 1, 1931
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England. She attended the King Edward VI High School
Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI
The Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham is a charitable institution that operates two independent schools, five voluntary aided selective state schools in Birmingham, England and one academy....
in Birmingham and then matriculated at Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
in 1900.
At Cambridge she majored in Botany. She received no degree from Cambridge, despite taking First Class Honours in both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos, because Cambridge did not award degrees to women until 1948.
In 1903 she joined William Bateson
William Bateson
William Bateson was an English geneticist and a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge...
's genetics lab at Cambridge where she began her study of the inheritance of petal color in Antirrhinum
Antirrhinum
Antirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as snapdragons from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed...
(snapdragons). This work culminated in the 1916 publication of her first book, "The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants."
In 1914 Onslow joined the biochemistry lab of Frederick Gowland Hopkins, where she pursued the biochemical aspects of petal color, whose genetics she had elucidated at Bateson's lab. In combining genetics and biochemistry she became one of the first biochemical geneticists and paved the way for the later successes of such seminal investigators as Edward Tatum and George Beadle.
In 1919 Onslow married the biochemist Huia Onslow, second son of the 4th Earl of Onslow. Huia Onslow was paraplegic and died in 1922.
In 1926 she was one of the first women appointed as a lecturer at Cambridge.
Muriel Onslow died on May 19, 1932.
In 2010 the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
of Great Britain staged a play, entitled "Blooming Snapdragons," about four early-20th-century women biochemists, one of whom was Muriel Onslow.
Books by Muriel Onlsow
The Anthocyanin Pigments of Plants, 1916, revised in 1925Practical Plant Biochemistry, 1920
Principles of Plant Biochemistry, Volume 1, 1931