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Who discovered how muscles work?

 
Biology Q&A: Who discovered how muscles work?

Hugh Huxley (1924-) and Andrew Huxley (1917-) (the scientists were unrelated) researched theories regarding muscle contraction. Hugh Huxley was initially a nuclear physicist who entered the field of biology at the end of World War II. He used both X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy to study muscle contraction. Andrew Huxley was a muscle biochemist who obtained data similar to Hugh's, indicating that the contractile proteins thought to be present in muscles are not contractile at all, but rather slide past each other to shorten a muscle. This theory is called the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction.

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