Tom Gibson, Plastic Surgeon (1915–93): His Life, the Second Set Phenomenon, the Host versus Graft Reaction, and the Birth of Tissue Transplantation

Abstract

In the early 1940s Tom Gibson, a member of an MRC unit investigating infection in burns at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, developed an interest in skin grafting. With Peter (later Sir Peter) Medawar, he described the ‘Second Set’ phenomenon which in 1943 laid the foundations for tissue transplantation. After war service (1944–47) he was the major force in the development of plastic surgery services in the West of Scotland. His researches at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde earned him an international reputation.