Helen Purdy Beale

Helen Alice Purdy Beale (September 19, 1893 – November 5, 1976) was an American virologist who made significant contributions to the fields of plant virology and immunology. During her work on Tobacco mosaic virus, Beale invented standard serology tools that are used today in research practices and medical diagnosis. She has been revered as the "mother of plant virology and serology". she postponed completion of the degree. Columbia awarded her a doctorate degree in 1929.

Career From 1919 to 1920 and after postponing her graduate studies at Cornell, Beale was an instructor at Vassar College where she taught biology.

In 1948, she was promoted to both plant pathologist at the Boyce Thompson Institute, and to research associate at Columbia University.

Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Beale joined the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in 1924 where she remained until her retirement in 1952. She originally joined the virology laboratory of Louis O. Kunkel, whose research focus was on the cause and transmission method of yellows disease in plants. casting suspicion on a bacterial cause. Turning to investigate the leaves of infected plant leaves, Beale developed a bioassay method to track the development of an infection with a 0.5% aqueous solution of iodine green, a revolutionary step in identifying viruses.

Beale's landmark contribution to the application of serology in the field of plant virology precipitated as a result of her dissertation work in 1929. She demonstrated that infected leaf sap injected into rabbits could produce polyclonal antibodies in rabbit antiserum that were not found in the control rabbits (not infected with leaf sap during injections). The antibodies were specific to Tobacco mosaic virus, thus identifying and characterizing the virus as a pathogenic agent in tobacco mosaic disease. The specificity of the antibody for Tobacco mosaic virus, being unreactive with other viruses, proved to be a useful tool with which to diagnose a Tobacco mosaic virus infection. It also allowed for the isolation and characterization of unique strains of Tobacco mosaic virus, making it possible for her collaborator, Wendell M. Stanley, to work with a single pure strain. This increased research precision helped facilitate and accelerate Stanley's contributions to the advancement of the Tobacco mosaic virus field. Furthermore, she demonstrated that Tobacco mosaic virus in leaf sap could be neutralized, or inactivated, by the antibodies isolated from the antiserum. In conclusion, Beale established the basis of using immunology and serology to define the chemical nature of Tobacco mosaic virus that could be expanded and applied to the virology field in general.

Legacy Helen Purdy Beale's research with Tobacco mosaic virus integrated immunology into the field of plant virology. The serology tools she invented would become standard practices that continue to be used in both research and medical diagnostics.

Her collaborator, W. M. Stanley, has been quoted as stating that Beale possessed the rare quality to "correlate the chemical with the serological work and thus to secure fundamental information regarding viruses in general".

In his recommendation letter Beale's application to the Guggenheim Fellowship, Kunkel wrote "In my opinion Dr. Beale possesses unusual ability as a research worker and as a scholar... She is one of those gifted persons who periodically comes for-ward with a new idea".

Death Beale died on November 5, 1976, in Ridgefield, Connecticut, where she lived in retirement. Her obituary described her as "unflappable, witty, and persevering".

Works and publications