Matthew Kaufman

For the record producer, see Matthew King Kaufman.

Matthew Kaufman
Born(1942-09-29)29 September 1942
London, England
Died11 August 2013(2013-08-11) (aged 70)
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma materthe University of Edinburgh
Known forDiscovering embryonic stem cells, and author of the Atlas of Mouse Development.
Scientific career
FieldsDevelopmental biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Edinburgh

Matthew H. Kaufman (29 September 1942 – 11 August 2013) was a British biologist. He was Professor Emeritus at University of Edinburgh having been Professor of Anatomy there from 1985 to 2007. He taught anatomy and embryology for more than 30 years, initially at the University of Cambridge, when he was a Fellow of King's College, and more recently (from 1985 to 1997) in Edinburgh.

Born in London into an Orthodox Jewish family,[1] during his early years at the University of Edinburgh, he re-instituted a course for an intercalated degree (an honours science degree taken within a medical degree course) in anatomy, absent for many years in this subject. With this he brought a new life of exploration and research within the department of anatomy.[citation needed]

In 1981 Kaufman and Martin Evans at the University of Cambridge in England and Gail R. Martin in America were the first to derive embryonic stem cells (ES cells) from mouse embryos.[2][3] He obtained a PhD in 1984 from the University of Edinburgh presenting the thesis 'Investigations into the genetic, morphogenetic and teratogenic factors that influence early mammalian development'.[4] He published four books on mouse embryology and three books on historical aspects of military surgery. He also published a book on Medical Teaching in Edinburgh during the 18th and 19th centuries, a book on the History of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society and biographies of Dr. John Barclay and Mr. Robert Liston. He also published about 240 papers on a wide range of embryological and medical historical topics. He was awarded the F.R.S. Edin. in 2008.

He was a leading authority on mouse development.[5]

He was also Honorary Librarian at the Royal Medical Society in Edinburgh, having been Senior President from 1966 to 1967. He died after a long illness at an Edinburgh nursing home in 2013.[6]

  1. ^ Jonathan Bard and Gillian Morriss-Kay, "Matthew H Kaufman FRSE (1942–2013)", J Anat. 2013 Dec; 223(6): 68.
  2. ^ Evans M, Kaufman M (1981). "Establishment in culture of pluripotential cells from mouse embryos". Nature. 292 (5819): 154–6. doi:10.1038/292154a0. PMID 7242681. S2CID 4256553.
  3. ^ Martin G (1981). "Isolation of a pluripotent cell line from early mouse embryos cultured in medium conditioned by teratocarcinoma stem cells". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 78 (12): 7634–8. doi:10.1073/pnas.78.12.7634. PMC 349323. PMID 6950406.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Matthew Howard (1984). "Investigations into the genetic, morphogenetic and teratogenic factors that influence early mammalian development". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "Professor Matt Kaufman – Organ System Development in the Mouse". Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 23 September 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  6. ^ "KAUFMAN – Deaths Announcements – Telegraph Announcements". The Daily Telegraph. 11 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.