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{{Short description|German-British biophysicist (1911–2003)}}

[[de:Bernard Katz]]

{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}

Sir '''Bernard Katz''' (March 26, [[1911]] - April 23, 2003) was a German-born [[biophysics|biophysicist]], noted for his work on [[nerve]] [[biochemistry]] and the [[pineal gland]]. He shared the [[Nobel Prize]] in [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|physiology or medicine]] in [[1970]]. Considered by some the founder of the field of [[psychopharmacology]], he was [[British honours system|knighted]] in 1970.

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Sir Bernard Katz

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}}

| image = Sir Bernard Katz.jpg

| caption = Painting after a portrait by [[Nick Sinclair]]

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1911|3|26}}

| birth_place = [[Leipzig]], [[German Empire]]

| residence =

| nationality =

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2003|4|20|1911|3|26}}

| death_place = London, UK

| death_cause =

| field = [[Neurophysiology]]<br>[[Biophysics]]

| work_institution = [[University College London]]<br />[[University of Sydney]]<br />[[Sydney Hospital]]

| alma_mater = [[University of Leipzig]]

| doctoral_advisor =

| doctoral_students =

| academic_advisors = [[Archibald Vivian Hill]]

| known_for = [[Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz flux equation]]<br>[[Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz voltage equation]]<br>[[Quantal neurotransmitter release]]

| prizes = {{Plainlist|

*[[Royal Society Copley Medal]] (1967)

*[[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1970)

*[[Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience]] (1990)}}

| spouse = Marguerite ("Rita") Penly Katz (d. 1999)

| children = 2 sons

}}

'''Sir Bernard Katz''', [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]<ref name="frs">{{cite journal|doi= 10.1098/rsbm.2007.0013 |pmid= 18543466 |title= Bernard Katz. 26 March 1911 – 20 April 2003: Elected 1952 |journal= Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume= 53 |pages= 185–202 |year= 2007 |last1= Sakmann |first1= B. |s2cid= 22565720 }}</ref> ({{IPA|de|ˈbɛʁnaʁt kat͡s|-|De-Bernard Katz.ogg}}; 26 March 1911 – 20 April 2003)<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ep.physoc.org/cgi/issue_pdf/frontmatter_pdf/74/1.pdf|title=School of Katz|year=1990|journal=Quarterly Journal of Experimental Biology|access-date=23 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326221802/http://ep.physoc.org/cgi/issue_pdf/frontmatter_pdf/74/1.pdf|archive-date=26 March 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> was a German-born [[British people|British]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bernard-Katz|title=Sir Bernard Katz {{!}} British physiologist|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> physician and [[biophysics|biophysicist]], noted for his work on [[nerve]] [[physiology]]; specifically, for his work on [[neurotransmission|synaptic transmission]] at the [[neuromuscular junction|nerve-muscle junction]]. He shared the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine]] in 1970 with [[Julius Axelrod]] and [[Ulf von Euler]]. He was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] in 1969.

Born in [[Leipzig]], Germany, he was educated at the Albert Gymnasium in that city from [[1921]] to [[1929]] and went on to study medicine at the [[University of Leipzig]]. He graduated in [[1934]] and fled to Britain in February [[1935]], the rise of [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] having made his mixed Russian-Jewish heritage dangerous. He went to work at [[University College London|UCL]], initially under the tutelage of [[Archibald Vivian Hill]]. He finished his PhD in [[1938]] and won a [[Carnegie Fellowship]] to study with [[John C. Eccles]] at Sydney Hospital. He was naturalised in [[1941]] and joined the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in [[1942]]. He spent the war in the Pacific as a [[radar]] officer. He married Marguerite Penly in [[1945]] and returned to UCL as an assistant director in [[1946]]. Back in [[England]] he also worked with the [[1963]] Nobel prize winners [[Alan Hodgkin]] and [[Andrew Huxley]]. Katz was made a professor at UCL in [[1952]] and head of biophysics, he was also elected to the [[Royal Society]]. He stayed as head of biophysics until [[1978]] when he became emeritus professor.

==Life and career==

His research uncovered fundamental properties of [[synapse]]s, the junctions across which nerve cells signal to each other and to other types of cells. By the [[1950s]], he was studying the biochemistry and action of [[acetylcholine]], a [[neurotransmitter|signalling molecule]] with which synapses linking "motor nerves" to [[muscle]]s stimulate contraction. Katz won the Nobel for his discovery that neurotransmitter release at synapses is "quantal"--that is, that at any particular synapse the amount of neurotransmitter released is never less than a certain amount, and if more is always an integral number times this amount. This circumstance arises, scientists now know, because, prior to their release into the synaptic gap, transmitter molecules reside in like-sized subcellular packages known as synaptic [[vesicle]]s (more at [[exocytosis]]).

Katz was born in [[Leipzig]], Germany, to a [[Jews|Jewish]] family originally from Russia, the son of Eugenie (Rabinowitz) and Max Katz, a fur merchant.<ref name="nobelprize.org">{{Cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1970/katz-bio.html |title = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1970}}</ref> He was educated at the Albert Gymnasium in that city from 1921 to 1929 and went on to study medicine at the [[University of Leipzig]]. He graduated in 1934 and fled to Britain in February 1935.

Katz went to work at [[University College London]], initially under the tutelage of [[Archibald Vivian Hill]]. He finished his PhD in 1938 and won a [[Carnegie Fellowship]] to study with [[John Carew Eccles]] at the Kanematsu Institute of [[Sydney Medical School]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/research/units/kanematsu.php|title=Kanematsu Laboratories - Research - Sydney Medical School - the University of Sydney |access-date=10 November 2014|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110050316/http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/research/units/kanematsu.php |archive-date=10 November 2014 }}</ref> During this time, both he and Eccles gave research lectures at the [[University of Sydney]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/australias-nobel-laureates |title=Australia's Nobel Laureates and the Nobel Prize &#124; australia.gov.au |access-date=14 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814115156/http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/australias-nobel-laureates |archive-date=14 August 2014 |url-status = dead}}</ref> He obtained British nationality in 1941and joined the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in 1942.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-61415|title=Katz, Sir Bernard (1911–2003), experimental physiologist|year=2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/61415|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> He spent the war in the Pacific as a [[radar]] officer and in 1946 was invited back to UCL as an assistant director by [[A V Hill|Hill]]. For three years until 1949, the Katz family lived with [[A V Hill|Hill]] and his wife [[Margaret Hill (social reformer)|Margaret]] in the top flat of their house in [[Highgate]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Top of the Hill: A History of the Hill Homes|last=Kosky|first=Jules.|date=1994|publisher=Hill Homes|isbn=0-9523659-0-1}}. p.85</ref>

Katz's work had immediate influence on the study of [[organophosphate]]s and [[organochlorine]]s, the basis of new post-war study for [[nerve agent]]s and [[pesticide]]s, as he determined that the complex enzyme cycle was easily disrupted.

Back in England he also worked with the 1963 Nobel prize winners [[Alan Hodgkin]] and [[Andrew Huxley]]. Katz was made a professor at UCL in 1952 and head of the Biophysics Department; he was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1952|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1952]].<ref name="frs"/> He stayed as head of Biophysics until 1978 when he became emeritus professor.

Later in his career, Katz deciphered the biochemistry of the [[pineal gland]] and its production of [[melatonin]]. It is for this work that he sometimes called the founder of psychopharmacology.

Katz married Marguerite Penly in 1945. He died in London on 20 April 2003, at the age of 92. His son Jonathan is [[Public Orator]] of the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name="nobelprize.org" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nicholls |first=Mark |date=2021-10-21 |title=Inspired by a Nobel prizewinning father |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehab200 |journal=European Heart Journal |volume=42 |issue=40 |pages=4103–4105 |doi=10.1093/eurheartj/ehab200 |pmid=33822925 |issn=0195-668X}}</ref>

===External References===

* [http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1970/katz-bio.html Nobel Biography]

==Research==

His research uncovered fundamental properties of [[synapse]]s, the junctions across which nerve cells signal to each other and to other types of cells. By the 1950s, he was studying the biochemistry and action of [[acetylcholine]], a [[neurotransmitter|signalling molecule]] found in synapses linking [[motor neuron]]s to [[muscle]]s, used to stimulate contraction.<ref>The Release of Neural Transmitter Substances (The Sherrington Lectures X), Charles C Thomas Publisher, Springfield (Illinois) 1969, pp.&nbsp;60</ref> Katz won the Nobel for his discovery with [[Paul Fatt]] that neurotransmitter release at synapses is "[[Quantal neurotransmitter release|quantal]]", meaning that at any particular synapse, the amount of neurotransmitter released is never less than a certain amount, and if more is always an integral number times this amount. Scientists now understand that this circumstance arises because, prior to their release into the synaptic gap, transmitter molecules reside in like-sized subcellular packages known as [[synaptic vesicle]]s, released in a similar way to any other [[vesicle (biology)|vesicle]] during [[exocytosis]].

Katz's work had immediate influence on the study of [[organophosphate]]s and [[organochlorine]]s, the basis of new post-war study for [[nerve agent]]s and [[pesticide]]s, as he determined that the complex enzyme cycle was easily disrupted.

== Collections ==

Katz's son Jonathan presented the personal archive of his father to University College London in 2003.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=UCL Special Collections |title=Katz Papers |url=https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=KATZ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=UCL Archives Catalogue}}</ref> The collection includes biographical documents, correspondence, notes on lectures, publications, and research material.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==

*[[Chemical synapse]]

*[[Quantal neurotransmitter release]]

*[[End-plate potential]]

*[[List of refugees]]

*[[Neuromuscular junction]]

*[[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==

{{Reflist|35em}}

==External links==

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiquote}}

* [https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=KATZ Bernard Katz Papers] at [[University College London]]

* [http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1970/katz-bio.html Sir Bernard Katz Biography]. Nobel Foundation

* [http://education.guardian.co.uk/obituary/story/0,12212,942442,00.html Guardian Obituary]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040611212626/http://www.ans.org.au/obit.htm Australian Neuroscience Society Obituary]

* Sabbatini, R.M.E.: [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012062426/http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n17/history/neurons5_i.htm Neurons and synapses. The history of its discovery IV. Chemical transmission]. ''Brain & Mind'', 2004.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060922190818/http://www.physoc.org/publications/pn/archive/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=65 Physiology Online, PhysiologyNews, Issue 52, Autumn 2003]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050502102049/http://www.deutsches-museum-bonn.de/zeitzeugen/katz/katz_e.html Bernard Katz: "An autobiographical sketch"]

* [http://www.albertiner.de König-Albert-Gymnasium Leipzig]

* {{Nobelprize|name=Sir Bernard Katz}}

* {{NPG name}}

{{Copley Medallists 1951-2000}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 1951-1975}}

{{1970 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Bernard}}

[[Category:1911 births]]

[[Category:2003 deaths]]

[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]

[[Category:British Nobel laureates]]

[[Category:German Nobel laureates]]

[[Category:British neuroscientists]]

[[Category:German neuroscientists]]

[[Category:Jewish neuroscientists]]

[[Category:Jewish German scientists]]

[[Category:Physicians from Leipzig]]

[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]

[[Category:Academics of University College London]]

[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]

[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]

[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]

[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]

[[Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:Electrophysiologists]]

[[Category:Neurophysiologists]]

[[Category:The Journal of Physiology editors]]

[[Category:Recipients of the Cothenius Medal]]