John Wilson Moore | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 1, 1920 |
| Died | March 30, 2019 (aged 98) |
| Alma mater | Davidson College (B.S., 1941) |
| Known for | Tetrodotoxin, NEURON |
| Spouse | Ann Elizabeth Stuart (1943–) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biophysics, Neuroscience, Computational Neuroscience, Physics |
| Institutions | Duke University (1961–) NIH (1954–1961) Naval Medical Research Institute (1950–1954) Medical College of Virginia (1946–1950) RCA (1945–1946) University of Virginia (1941–1945) |
John Wilson Moore (November 1, 1920 – March 30, 2019) was an American biophysicist who pioneered the emergent power of computers, beginning in the 1950s, to reveal how signals are generated, integrated, and then travel in neurons. He is well known for his discovery (with Toshio Narahashi), that the puffer fish toxin tetrodotoxin causes death by blocking the sodium ion channels that are responsible for nerve activity.[1] Moore was emeritus professor of Neurobiology at Duke University Medical School where he had been a member of the faculty since 1961. Moore's NEURON simulator software, begun with and now carried forward by Michael Hines, is used worldwide. Moore received the Cole Award of the Biophysical Society in 1981.[2]