Archibald Edward Garrod. Portrait of Sir Archibald Edward Garrod (1857-1936), British physician and pioneer of hereditary diseases. Garrod studied the disorders alkaptonuria, albinism, cysturinia and pentosuria. In each case he found that a chemical derived from the diet was not being metabolised properly. He deduced that this metabolic failure was due to a faulty body chemi- cal (enzyme). He also showed from family histories that each disease was inherited in the way predicted by Mendelian genetics. Garrod's publica- tions included Inborn Errors of Metabolism (1909) and Inborn Factors in Disease (1931) although his work was largely ignored for 30 years.