Peculiar red cell shapes: Fåhraeus Lecture 2011

I feel deeply honored to receive the Fahraeus Award 2011 and I would like to thank the European Society of Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation (ESCHM) for it. It is a great appreciation of my scientific work in rheology, which started 30 years ago and has fascinated me since then. Two outstanding personalities were at the origin of this scientific work. One was Prof. Werner Straub, Chairman of Internal Medicine at the University of Berne, who opened my eyes for hemorheology with an in vivo study looking at the influence of the betablocking agent propranolol on erythrocytes [58]. He has supported my scientific activity ever since. Of utmost importance to me was the opportunity to work with Prof. Shu Chien in his laboratory at Columbia University in New York for more than 2 years (1982 to 1984). From him I learned everything about rheology, science in general, and the role and liability of scientists in the society. The red blood cell (RBC) has attracted me from the beginning; it was love at first sight. Although it is rather a cell remnant than a real cell, since it has lost its nucleus, cytoplasmic organelles and is unable of protein synthesis and cell division, it is essential for the survival of any macroorganism with a blood circulation because it transports the necessary oxygen to every cell of the body. Blood flow has always been the symbol of life; blood loss or blood shedding the symbol of death. But the RBC is not only highly functional and efficient, it also has a unique, peculiar shape of preeminent simplicity, design and beauty.