The world of iron metabolism has been taken over by molecular biology

The world of iron metabolism has been taken over by molecular biology. The astounding progress over the past ten years would be nowhere had it not had a solid foundation built on years of careful research and observation. One of the pioneers in laying this foundation was Thomas Hamilton Bothwell. He entered the field just as a new technology was becoming available: radioactivity. His first paper, which set him off on a career in iron research, was not merely a case report on a patient with haemochromatosis but ‘radioiron studies in a case of haemochromatosis’ and was published in no lesser forum than the prestigious Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine. It was fortuitous that this young patient presented with cardiac failure and so came to the attention of the budding cardiologist. Just as the researchers of today are exploiting technologies evolved from the polymerase chain reaction, so Bothwell used radioiron to delve into the mysteries of iron absorption, iron loss and ‘internal iron exchange’ – how iron is recycled and put to use again and again. Bothwell has produced over 300 publications, the vast majority on aspects of iron metabolism, and in most of his original articles, radioiron has been the essential research tool.