Research Interests:
In 1960, the existence of cell membranes was questionable; let alone the presence of proteins that catalyze transport, when I discovered serendipitously that I could obtain empty membrane vesicles by osmotically lysing E. coli. Although the vesicles showed promise for studying transport, activity was low until it was discovered fortuitously that oxidation of D-lactate or later artificial electron donors yield activity comparable to intact cells. A plethora of studies demonstrated that the vesicles have the same orientation as the intact cell membrane, one of the most convincing being the demonstration that each vesicle catalyzes transport. These findings transformed membrane transport from phenomenology to biochemistry and laid the groundwork for vesicle systems from eukaryotic cell membranes, epithelia and intracellular organelles.