British bacteriologist dies

Patricia Clarke, a distinguished British biochemist who deepened the field's understanding of bacterial evolution and was a role model for women in science, died last month at 90 years of age. Pseudomonas aeruginosaImage: Wikimedia Commons, CDC/Janice Haney Carr "She had always been determined to get into academia," said Barbara Banks, a physiological chemist and a former colleague at the University College London. "She was a student at Cambridge - before the days when they gave degrees to wome

Written byCassandra Brooks

| 2 min read

Patricia Clarke, a distinguished British biochemist who deepened the field's understanding of bacterial evolution and was a role model for women in science, died last month at 90 years of age.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Image: Wikimedia Commons, CDC/Janice Haney Carr

"She had always been determined to get into academia," said Barbara Banks, a physiological chemist and a former colleague at the University College London. "She was a student at Cambridge - before the days when they gave degrees to women." Clarke grew up in south Wales and won a scholarship to Girton College at the University of Cambridge in 1937. In her final year there, Clarke became inspired by the microbiologist Marjory Stephenson, and turned to studying biochemistry. After a few posts at biochemical labs throughout the United Kingdom, Clarke's landed a lectureship position at the University College London in 1953, a time when there were only a handful of other women in junior faculty positions. Over the course of more than three decades Clarke led research on the properties and evolution of bacterial enzymes, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Clarke and her collaborators were the first to show that a simple bacterial gene mutation could foster new enzymes, which enabled the bacteria to grow on novel substrates. She published approximately 100 papers, according to ISI, and her work led to a host of industrial and biotechnology applications with antibiotic and organic compounds. Despite her achievements, Clarke struggled to climb the academic ranks at the University College London. "She watched much less distinguished and mostly younger men in her department get promoted one by one to professor and she was left out of it," Banks said. "The thing I remember most vividly about Pat was running into her on the stairs of the biochemistry department and she was absolutely fuming." The provost had addressed her as 'Professor Clarke' in the morning and then in the afternoon promoted her lower ranked colleagues, Banks said. Clarke was finally promoted to full professor in 1973, just three years before she was elected a fellow of The Royal Society - an achievement she received above and before all her male collaborators, Banks commented. She served as a fellow from 1976 on and served on both the society's council and as its vice-president from 1981 to 1982. After retiring from the University College London in 1984, she continued her research career through a variety of honorary positions at institutions including the University of Wales and the University of Hong Kong. In her retirement, she also worked to promote women in science. In 1993 she was one of six women on a science committee commissioned by the Conservative party science minister William Waldegrave. In their 1994 report titled "The Rising Tide," they urged that infrastructure should be employed to encourage women to move into scientific careers, offset childcare costs, and train teachers to promote equal opportunities in the classroom. She also served in many science societies as well as women's associations. "She was always true to her beliefs," Banks said. "She had integrity."
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[3rd January 2001]