Otto Funke

Who was Otto Funke?

Otto Funke was a German physiologist who was a native of Chemnitz.

He studied at Leipzig and Heidelberg, and in 1852 became a lecturer of physiology at the University of Leipzig. In 1856 he became a professor of physiological chemistry in Leipzig, and in 1860 a professor of physiology and zoology at the University of Freiburg. One of his better known students at Leipzig was physiologist Karl Ewald Konstantin Hering.

In 1851 Otto Funke was the first scientist to successfully crystallize hemoglobin, which he first called "Blutfarbstoff". This work was a precursor to Felix Hoppe-Seyler's important studies of hemoglobin. Funke also performed research of blood formation in the spleen, and investigations into the effects of curare.