Dr. Herman Branson (1914-1995) - Physicist & Pioneer Biophysicist

Proteins are critical building blocks for life. Our cells dedicate many resources into storing blueprints of how to create protein in our DNA, while RNA is tightly regulated and decodes cryptic messages to create the correct protein in response at the correct time. Creating the wrong protein wreaks havoc in our cells and by extension our health and wellbeing. Protein function is largely determined by the structure of the protein. How did people determine protein structure? How do we know that proteins have specific shapes?

Photograph by Scurlock Studio, Archives Center, National Museum of American History,

courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archvies, Physics Today Collection

Harman Branson was born in Pocahontas Virginia in 1914. At the time Pocahontas, VA was largely a coal mining town with a population of 3,775 people in 1920, the population has since dwindled to 382 people in 2010. Branson attended Virginia College (now Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA) where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1936. In 1939 Branson received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cincinnati under the supervision of Boris Padowski. Branson served as tenured professor of Physics and was named Chairman of the Physics Department of Howard University from 1941-1968.

In 1948 Branson was recruited by Dr. Linus Pauling at California Institute of Technology, together they focused on studying the structure of proteins. This made Branson one of the first African American physicists to focus his research on crystallography. Crystallography is the study of crystals, in this case the study of protein crystals. In process starts with dissolving a particular protein in a solution until the mixture is supersaturated. Supersaturation happens with the amount of protein in this solution is greater than the amount of liquid. Think about the process of making caramel, often people melt a lot of sugar in a small amount of water. If that pan wasn’t hot, you would have a hard time getting all that sugar to dissolve, but since the pan is hot the sugar melts. If you take this hot sugar and water mixture and cooled it back down, it would solidify, or in other words it makes sugar crystals. Similarly, large amounts of purified proteins are dissolved in a small amount of liquid, upon cooling this solution proteins will clump together or create crystal. Branson and other crystallographers use these crystals to determine the structure of the protein. Crystallizing protein is much harder than it sounds, often protein “crystals” look more like blobs. These data were critical in understanding how proteins form, how they fold, crystallography is a powerful tool.

Book: Handbook of Industrial Crystallization, Chapter 14: Crystallization of Proteins

By: Peter G. Vekilov, Edited by: Allan S. Myerson, Deniz Erdemir and Alfred Y. Lee

Branson used mathematic calculations to determine possible structures of protein based on x-rays of the protein crystals and chemical characteristics determined by Pauling. These data led Branson to narrow down possible proteins structures which he called Alpha and Gamma helices. Protein helices (as in DNA’s double helix) is a single chain of amino acids that is twisted. I often think about ribbons tied around balloons. The ribbon is twisted or curled; an Alpha helix structure has a similar shape. These data helped scientists understand how proteins form, how they are folded, how they interact with other molecules, and ultimately help keep us alive.

Branson shared his findings with Linus Pauling, who was rumoured to have been very dismissive of Branson’s work and is rumoured to have said that Branson’s coils are impossible. However, Pauling went ahead and published Branson’s findings under his own name with his assistant Robert Corey and gave Branson minimal credit. Caltech announced the discovery of the Alpha helix in a press release, where they didn’t even mention Branson’s name. In 1954 Linus Pauling accepted a Nobel Prize for the discovery of the Alpha helix but Herman Branson was never given credit for contribution to the findings.

After his collaboration with Linus Pauling, Branson returned to Howard University as a full professor of Physics and Chairman of the Physics Department. He would serve in this position for 27 years. During his tenure at Howard University Branson taught and trained many influence scientists including Marie M. Daly (Episode 2). Branson continued to conduct ground-breaking research for which he organized cross-disciplinary teams of physicians, engineers, mathematicians, biologists, chemists and many more. Over the course of his life, Branson published more than one hundred articles on physics, biology, science education, and the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

After more than 20 years of trailblazing research, in 1970 Branson became President of Lincoln University in Ohio where he worked until he retired. Throughout his life Branson advocated for higher education and became the founder of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. In 1970 Branson led educators the White House where they spoke to President Nixon about financing higher education, six months later the Nixon administration planned to raise Federal aid to HBCU by $30 million.