Antisell attended the Dublin School of Medicine, the Apothecaries' Hall of Ireland, and the Royal College of Surgeons in London, graduating from the latter with an MD in November 1839.

With a group of five friends in the republican movement, including Richard D'Alton Williams and Kevin O'Doherty, Antisell set up a short-lived revolutionary newspaper, The Irish Tribune, in June 1848 to take the place of the suppressed United Irishman, founded by John Mitchel.

[5] This work allowed him to also lecture in chemistry at Georgetown University, Washington, eventually covering other subjects such as toxicology, military surgery, physiology, hygiene, and pathology, over the periods 1858 to 1869, and 1880 to 1882.

[1][6] Breaking with Mitchel who, as defender of slavery, supported the southern secessionist cause,[7] Antisell served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

[8] Antisell was one of several scientists that were hired in 1871 as foreign advisors to work in Hokkaido in northern Japan under Horace Capron.

However, he disagreed with Capron on whether or not Hokkaido's severe winter climate would hinder development, and he also came into conflict with the Japanese government over his salary.

He served his remaining time in Japan as a chemist for the Ministry of Finance,[9] where he developed inks used for the printing of paper currency.

[1] Upon returning to the United States, Antisell was conferred with a PhD in 1876 by Georgetown University, and once again took up duties at the Patent Office, remaining there until his retirement.