= Martin Leverkus
{c}
{tag=Biology author}
{tag=Physician}
{title2=1965-2016}
\b[Martin Leverkus] coauthored the 2016 <crystal violet> assay protocol with <Maria Feoktistova> and <Peter Geserick>. The paper's affiliations connect the collaboration with molecular dermatology at Mannheim and dermatology at Aachen.<Crystal Violet Assay for Determining Viability of Cultured Cells by Maria Feoktistova and others>[Byline and affiliations]{ref} Its scientific value includes making an assay's biological interpretation explicit: less retained stain does not, by itself, identify a particular mechanism of <cell death>.
A useful distinction is between reduced <cell proliferation> and increased <cell death>. An original constant-rate model gives
$$
\frac{\mathrm dN}{\mathrm dt}=(b-d)N,\qquad
N(t)=N_0e^{(b-d)t},
$$
where $b$ and $d$ are per-cell proliferation and death rates. Parameter pairs $(b,d)=(0.06,0.02)\,\mathrm{h^{-1}}$ and $(0.04,0)\,\mathrm{h^{-1}}$ give the same net growth rate. Starting from 10000 <cells>, both predict approximately 14918 after ten hours, although only the first model includes ongoing deaths.
A staining endpoint proportional to retained <cell> number would not distinguish those two histories. Time-resolved counting or a measurement specific to a death process supplies additional information. Moreover, altered attachment or staining can invalidate the assumed proportionality before that biological comparison even begins. This is why the protocol's requirement for additional characterization matters.<Crystal Violet Assay for Determining Viability of Cultured Cells by Maria Feoktistova and others>[Abstract, requirement to characterize the cause of reduced staining]{ref} The calculation is an original identifiability example, not a reconstruction of Leverkus's data.
\Image[https://media.springernature.com/w300/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fcddiscovery.2016.93/MediaObjects/41420_2017_Article_BFcddiscovery201693_Figa_HTML.jpg]
{title=Martin Leverkus, portrait accompanying the Cell Death Discovery memorial}
{description=External portrait from https://www.nature.com/articles/cddiscovery201693[the memorial to Martin Leverkus].}
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