Richard Laurence Millington Synge was a distinguished British biochemist renowned for revolutionizing analytical techniques in molecular science. Born in Liverpool on October 28, 1914, he received his early education at Winchester College before pursuing chemistry, physics, and physiology at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He completed his Ph.D. at Cambridge in 1941 and began his research career at the Wool Industries Research Association in Leeds, where he collaborated with Archer John Porter Martin. Throughout his professional life, Synge held significant research positions at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine in London, the Rowett Research Institute near Aberdeen, and served as a biochemist at the Food Research Institute in Norwich until his retirement in 1976.
Synge's most groundbreaking achievement was the co-development of partition chromatography with Archer Martin, a technique that fundamentally transformed the separation and analysis of complex chemical mixtures. They first demonstrated this method to the Biochemical Society in June 1941 and published their findings later that year, creating an essential tool for separating closely related compounds such as amino acids. This innovation enabled Synge to determine the exact structure of the simple protein molecule gramicidin S, work that proved instrumental in Frederick Sanger's subsequent elucidation of insulin's structure. The development of partition chromatography, along with paper chromatography and later gas-liquid chromatography, revolutionized biochemical research methodology and became indispensable for scientists studying protein composition and molecular structures.
The analytical methods pioneered by Synge and Martin fundamentally reshaped biochemical research in the mid-20th century, opening new avenues for understanding protein structure and function. Their work provided the essential tools that enabled subsequent breakthroughs in molecular biology, including the determination of protein sequences that underpinned the molecular revolution. In recognition of their transformative contribution, Synge and Martin were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1952 and elected Fellows of the Royal Society in 1950. Synge's methodological innovations continue to influence analytical approaches across scientific disciplines, with chromatographic techniques remaining foundational in biochemistry laboratories worldwide more than half a century after their development.
