Scientific Works

Haldane served in World War I, and later joined Cambridge, where he taught for 10 years between 1922-1933. He was particularly interested in genetics and embarked on a method of genetical research never undertaken before. He applied mathematics to problems dealing with Darwinian variation and established the relationship between Mendel's genetics and evolution.

In 1932, he became the first person to estimate the rate of mutation of a human gene. He did this by observing the spontaneous mutation rates of harmful or sex-linked genes in populations. For example, he found that the rate of mutation of the sex-linked gene among hemophiliacs was between 10 and 50 per million per generation. As an offshoot from these findings he carried out investigations with Julia Bell as to how close the link was between the gene that caused colour blindness and that which caused hemophilia. Around this time, Haldane also worked on enzyme kinetics and proved conclusively that enzymes also obey the known laws of thermodynamics. He then mathematically calculated the rates at which enzyme reactions occur. But perhaps, the most famous experiment Haldane conducted was the one he performed on himself. As part of his research on respiration and investigations on the effect of inhaling carbon-dioxide, he and a companion spent 48 hours in a tiny submarine to check whether a particular system of air purification would work. He showed that by controlling the Eustachian tubes, pressure on eardrums could be lessened. He determined the safest mixture of gases for breathing, depending upon depth and the duration of stay at that depth, to reduce the occurrence of bends.

Politics and Academics

Haldane joined the University of London in 1933 and was elected the first Weldon Professor of genetics in 1957. Alongside his academic career, he pursued politics, being a lifelong Marxist and member of the British Communist Party. He was chairman of the editorial board of the communist publication Daily Worker for a number of years.

In 1950, however, he left the Communist Party because of a disagreement with the Soviet government over their support for the controversial geneticist Trofim Lysenko. But he continued to remain a staunch Marxist with strong reservations against British Policies. Finally, refusing to live in what he called, “a criminal and police state that had attacked Egypt”, Haldane emigrated to India (1957), where he became director of the Orissa State Government’s Genetics and Biometry Laboratory. He died at Bhubaneshwar, India, on December 1, 1964.

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was born on 5 November 1892. He was educated at Eton and New College, where his father, the physiologist John Scott Haldane, was a fellow. He obtained his MA degree. After the First World War "Jack", the nickname his closer friends and family members called him, Haldane became a fellow in physiology of New College. He served as a reader in biochemistry at Cambridge University, professor of physiology at the Royal Institution, professor of genetics and of biometry at London University, then research professor at the Indian Statistical Institute (1957-61). He took Indian citizenship, and directed the Genetics and Biometry Laboratory in Orissa. He received medals for scientific excellence during his career, and published many scientific articles and writings.

Haldane made outstanding contribution in the field of mathematical genetics. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1932, and awarded the Darwin medal in 1953. He was also awarded the Kimber Genetics award in 1957. Haldane was an enthusiastic writer and did much to popularise science among the general public. He wrote at least 8 books, authored over 300 scientific papers, and contributed over 500 articles for the Daily Worker, Reynold News and many other publications.

Haldane was a daring scientist and left no stone unturned in his endeavour to prove his scientific theories. He subjected himself to extremes of temperature, carbon-dioxide concentration and even submergence in deep seas to show how men could escape from sunken submarines without great difficulty. This was a particularly relevant subject of investigation during the Second World War. Haldane was an outspoken communist and also a great humanitarian. During Hitler’s repression of Jews in Germany, he was actively involved in aiding refuges to escape and get rehabilitated. Haldane was married twice: his first marriage, in 1925, to Charlotte Burghes almost led to his dismissal from Cambridge. In 1945, he married Dr.Helen Spurway, who survived him.