Britton Chance
University of Pennsylvania
July 24, 1913 - November 16, 2010
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Scientific Discipline: Biochemistry Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1954)
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Britton Chance studied enzyme structure and function. He developed a stopped-flow device that allowed measurement of enzyme reactions for the existence of the enzyme-substrate complex. Focusing on metabolic control, he used noninvasive methods such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize properties of normal and cancerous tissues. Through these observations he determined that the biological electron transfer that occurs in respiration and photosynthesis is quantum mechanical tunneling, a discovery that lead to the development of nanoscale electronic devices.
Chance attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his BA and MA degrees and PhD in physical chemistry in 1940. He was called to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work in their radar laboratory during World War II. After the war the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine appointed him director of the Johnson Foundation. He also represented the United States in 5.5 meter class sailing at the 1952 summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, winning a gold medal.
