Medawar, << MEHD uh wuhr, >> Sir Peter Brian (1915-1987), an English zoologist, shared the 1960 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with Sir Macfarlane Burnet. In 1953, Medawar and his colleagues proved Burnet’s idea on acquired immunological tolerance. This idea suggested that under certain conditions, tissues and organs can be transplanted from one animal to another and function properly even though the animals are not related. Medawar’s research played an important role in the development of human transplant surgery.
Medawar was born on Feb. 28, 1915, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was educated in England. Medawar was a professor of zoology at University College, London, from 1951 to 1962. From 1962 to 1971, he served as director of Britain’s National Institute of Medical Research. Medawar was knighted in 1965. He died on Oct. 2, 1987.
