Ruth Sanger

Ruth Ann Sanger, PhD, FRS, a loved and admired colleague and friend of many blood groupers and human geneticists, died on 4th June 2001, just before her 83rd birthday. She was a pioneering scientist in recognizing blood systems and their complexity, and in applying blood groups to the problems of human genetics. Her death marks the end of an era. Born on 6 June 1918 in Queensland, Australia, Ruth was educated at Abbotsleigh School, Sydney, and Sydney University. She had a happy childhood and enjoyed her time at University but had no idea what to do when she graduated. A friend suggested that she should try a job in a hospital laboratory. She worked briefly in the pathology and haematology laboratories at the Children's Hospital in Camperdown before joining the New South Wales Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in Sydney in 1940. She worked first with Dr F. B. Byron in the blood plasma drying plant and then, under Dr R. T. Walsh, in the blood-grouping laboratory – a discipline that she would pursue for the rest of her working life. At end of the war she wanted to visit England and fulfil a lifelong ambition – her father, a headmaster, came from England and had left a large family there. Dr Walsh arranged for her to spend a year with Dr R. R. Race, in his newly formed Medical Research Council Unit at the Lister Institute in London. The Unit studied new red cell antigens and the antibodies that identified them and was especially interested in the clinically important Rh blood group system. Ruth was stimulated and excited by the work and, with her charming, gregarious nature, had the opportunity of making many new friends. The original year was extended to two and in 1948 she achieved a PhD at London University. In 1949, she returned briefly to Sydney but could not resist the challenge of the work in London. She joined the scientific staff of the Medical Research Council Blood Group Unit in 1950, succeeding Dr Race as Director when he retired in 1973, and stayed with the Unit until she retired in 1983. In 1956, Ruth married Dr Race, after the death of his first wife; Dr Race died in 1984. Her three stepdaughters survive her. Ruth was involved in the discovery of, or contributed to the understanding of, most of the blood group systems. In her early work, her most important contributions were the identification of anti-S that subdivided the MN blood groups, the recognition that the rare phenotype p, then called Tj(a-), was related to the P system, and the finding that a null type in the Duffy system, Fy(a-b-), was common in African-Americans but not found in Europeans. These and other observations provided building blocks for biochemists and molecular geneticists. Throughout her career she made continuous contributions to the expansion and interpretation of the Rh system. From 1962, most of her energies were devoted to the Xg blood groups. She was responsible for analysing the family data by calculating the lod scores for the families tested for various X-linked conditions. Ruth spent many hours drawing graphs of recombination fraction against relative probability of linkage, from which she assessed the evidence for or against linkage: a large number of families must be tested unless linkage is close and Xg did not appear to be very close to any of the disease loci studied. Although the linkage studies with Xg were disappointing, Xg studies of cases of sex-chromosome aneuploidy provided information about accidents at particular stages of cell division which were responsible for aneuploidies. Among Ruth's other interests were the application of blood groups to problems in human genetics. She contributed to mapping of human chromosomes by linkage studies with blood groups, and had a longstanding interest in the investigation of twin and dispermic human chimeras. Ruth had numerous publications in scientific journals, many jointly with her husband, Dr Rob Race (Fig. 1). Most famously they co-authored ‘Blood Groups in Man’ which was the ‘bible’ of blood groups from the first edition in 1951 to the sixth edition in 1975. This reference book, noted for its lucid style and comprehensive coverage, was essential reading for blood groupers, immunohaematologists and human geneticists. Humour made some passages particularly memorable. For each edition, new relevant literature was assessed and incorporated: for example, their presentation of the lod score method of Maynard Smith, Morton & Smith in the 5th edition brought this method of linkage analysis within the scope of all laboratory workers. Robert R. Race FRS and Ruth Sanger FRS. It is hard to separate the individual contributions of Race and Sanger, as they stimulated and complemented each other. Their book and a willingness to share their knowledge attracted visitors with scientific problems from many countries; they were habitually introduced to the local pub ‘The Rising Sun’. The MRC Blood Group Unit became a centre for resolving puzzles. The Unit remained small and only used simple equipment, but Race and Sanger inspired everyone to enjoy the excitement and delight in pursuing blood group problems. The number and nationalities of co-authors demonstrate this widespread collaboration. The MRC Blood Group Unit was a happy and stimulating place in which to work; I felt privileged to work there. Ruth received several honours. She became Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Helsinki in 1990. She received the Karl Landstelner Memorial Award from the American Association of Blood Banks in 1957, the Philip Levine Award from the American Society of Clinical Pathologists in 1970 and the Gairdner Memorial Award, Canada, in 1972, all jointly with Dr Race. She also received the Oliver Memorial Award for Blood Transfusion from the British Red Cross in 1973. She was an honorary member of numerous societies, but remained modest about her achievements. In addition to her critical scientific observations, Ruth's quick intelligence and warm personality charmed colleagues of all ages. Although Ruth lived happily in England for over 50 years she never learnt to like our cold and damp weather and, when retired, enjoyed a visit of 3 months to Australia every other Christmas to warm up again. Up to her last trip, she enjoyed a good swim. She will be remembered for her modesty, friendliness, enthusiasm, helpfulness and humour. Patricia Tippett, 12 August 2001

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