Father of liposomes dies

Alec Bangham, the researcher who in 1961 discovered liposomes -- tiny close-membraned vesicles -- died last month at the age of 88.

A liposome Image: Wikimedia commons, Dennis Barten

Trained as a clinical pathologist, Bangham eventually switched paths to lead a 60-plus-year research career, during which time he became known as the father of liposomes, which have since been used to deliver drugs for cancer and other diseases. "[Alec] would have an idea, and he would not think about whether this idea would increase his reputation or stature," said Dave Deamer, a biophysicist at the University of California Santa Cruz, who spent a six month sabbatical in Bangham's lab in 1975. "What Alec was interested in was the idea itself -- testing the idea and taking great pleasure in the pure science of research." Bangham first saw liposomes (published in linkurl:1964;http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WK7-4W7CV68-4&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1964&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1278931836&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5bea4f4c4fa854c97294da6348e1aab5 and linkurl:1965);http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WK7-4W7KJ0G-P&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F1965&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1278978636&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=cc9a5cbab2bda3734e280857f3826d05 when he and his colleague R.W. Horne...