Karl Blau obituary

iOur friend and former colleague, Karl Blau, who has died aged 84, was a talented and internationally respected biochemist. In 1966, Karl was invited to take charge of a laboratory at the North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, where he published important early studies on the metabolites produced by children with inherited metabolic diseases, particularly phenylketonuria.In 1972, he established one of the UK's first prenatal diagnostic laboratories for inherited diseases, at Queen Charlotte's maternity hospital in London. Karl developed a particular interest in the prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis; in the event, DNA screening subsequently eclipsed his work. He published many original papers and co-authored, with Graham King, the influential Handbook of Derivatives for Chromatography (1977).Karl was a delightful and supportive colleague. He combined liberal and tolerant views with a compendious knowledge and a sense of humour that was never malevolent. He retired in 1992 and pursued one of his ongoing interests: writing science-fiction novels. In earlier years he had enjoyed sailing and skiing.He was born in Vienna, where his father was a senior civil servant in the Austrian transport ministry. Karl's father was Catholic, from a Jewish background, his mother Protestant. At the time of the Anschluss, his parents (who survived the war) sent Karl to Britain under the auspices of "the Church of England Committee for Non-Aryan Christians". Karl lodged with two femal...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: Obituaries Biology guardian.co.uk Chemistry Biochemistry and molecular biology Science From the Guardian Source Type: news