Alexander Gordon Bearn

British-born American physician and geneticist
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Quick Facts
Born:
March 29, 1923, Cheam, Surrey, Eng.
Died:
May 15, 2009, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. (aged 86)

Alexander Gordon Bearn (born March 29, 1923, Cheam, Surrey, Eng.—died May 15, 2009, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) was a British-born American physician and geneticist who discovered the hereditary nature of Wilson disease and established the basis for diagnostic tests and novel forms of treatment for the disease. Bearn’s work, which provided an important model for the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of other genetic diseases, served to bridge the gap between genetics and medicine that existed in the 1950s. Bearn was one of three children, and his father worked for the Ministry of Health in Britain. Bearn received a Bachelor of Medicine ...(100 of 731 words)