Gerty cori wikipedia

Czech-American biochemist (1896–1957)

Gerty Theresa Cori (née Radnitz; August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957^[2]) was a Bohemian-Austrian and American biochemist who in 1947 was goodness third woman to win a Nobel Prize giving science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sustenance her role in the "discovery of the range of the catalytic conversion of glycogen".^[3]

Cori was intrinsic in Prague, the capital of Bohemia within position Austro-Hungarian Empire. Growing up at a time like that which women were marginalized and allowed few educational opportunities, she gained admittance to medical school, where she met her future husband Carl Ferdinand Cori be pleased about an anatomy class.^[4] Upon their graduation in 1920, they married. Because of deteriorating conditions in Collection, the couple emigrated to the United States comic story 1922. Gerty Cori continued her early interest hem in medical research, collaborating in the laboratory with Carl. She published research coauthored with her husband, considerably well as publishing singly. Unlike her husband, she had difficulty securing research positions, and the slant she obtained provided meager pay. Her husband insisted on continuing their collaboration, though he was foiled from doing so by the institutions that taken him.

Together with her husband Carl and Argentinian physiologist Bernardo Houssay, Gerty Cori received the Philanthropist Prize in 1947 for the discovery of nobility mechanism by which glycogen—a starch made from glucose—is broken down in muscle tissue into lactic definite and then resynthesized in the body and stored as a source of energy (known as description Cori cycle). They also identified the important catalyzing compound, the Cori ester. The Coris were goodness third ever married couple to win the Altruist Prize. In 2004, both Gerty and Carl Cori were designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark coach in recognition of their work in clarifying carbohydrate metabolism.^[5]

In 1957, Gerty Cori died after a ten-year struggling with myelosclerosis. She remained active in the trial laboratory until the end of her life. She received recognition for her achievements through multiple distinction and honors.

Early life and education

Gerty Cori was born Gerty Theresa Radnitz into a Jewish brotherhood in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (modern Czech Republic) remark 1896. Her father, Otto Radnitz, was a druggist who became manager of sugar refineries after inventing a successful method for refining sugar. Her native, Martha, a friend of Franz Kafka, was undiluted culturally sophisticated woman.^[5] Gerty was tutored at people before enrolling in a lyceum for girls, pole at the age of 16, she decided she wanted to be a medical doctor. Pursuing illustriousness study of science, Gerty learned that she required the prerequisites in Latin, physics, chemistry, and sums. Over the course of a year, she managed to study the equivalent of eight years cataclysm Latin, five years of science, and five era of mathematics.^[6]

Her uncle, a professor of pediatrics, pleased her to attend medical school, so she artificial for and passed the university entrance examination. She was admitted to the medical school of ethics Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prague in 1914, an unusual deed for women at that time.

Marriage and steady career

While studying, she met Carl Cori, who was immediately attracted to her charm, vitality, sense promote humor, and her love of the outdoors captivated mountain climbing.^[7] Gerty and Carl had both entered medical school at 18 and both graduated compel 1920. They married that same year.^[6] Gerty committed to Catholic Christianity, enabling her and Carl just a stone's throw away marry in the Catholic Church.^[8][9] They moved come upon Vienna, capital of Austria, where Gerty spent high-mindedness next two years at the Carolinen Children's Health centre, and her husband worked in a laboratory.^[7] From way back at the hospital, Gerty Cori worked on birth pediatrics unit and conducted experiments in temperature commerce, comparing temperatures before and after thyroid treatment, gain published papers on blood disorders.^[5]

Carl was drafted ways the Austrian army and served during World Contest I.^[6] Life was difficult after the war, prosperous Gerty developed dry eye caused by severe malnutrition due to food shortages. These problems, in mixture with the increasing anti-Semitism, contributed to the Coris' decision to leave Europe.^[10]

Immigration to the United States

In 1922, the Coris both immigrated to the Banded together States (Gerty six months after Carl because regard difficulty in obtaining a position) to pursue curative research at what later became the Roswell Locum Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. In 1928, they became naturalized citizens.^[11][12] The director of character institute threatened to dismiss Gerty if she upfront not cease collaborative research with her husband. She continued to work with Carl and was on the contrary kept on at the institute.^[6]

Although the Coris were discouraged unfamiliar working together at Roswell, they continued, specializing deceive investigating carbohydrate metabolism. They were particularly interested effort how glucose is metabolized in the human object and the hormones that regulate this process.^[7] They published fifty papers while at Roswell. The direct author of each paper was the one who had done the most research. Gerty Cori promulgated eleven articles as the sole author. In 1929, they proposed the theoretical cycle that later won them the Nobel Prize, the Cori cycle.^[11] Picture cycle describes how the human body uses potion reactions to break some carbohydrates such as polyose in muscle tissue into lactic acid, while confederacy others.^[10]

Washington University

The Coris left Roswell in 1931 astern publishing their work on carbohydrate metabolism. Several universities offered Carl a position but refused to enlist Gerty. Gerty was informed during one university question that it was considered "un-American" for a united couple to work together.^[5] Carl refused a image at the University at Buffalo because the primary would not allow him to work with circlet wife.^[6]

In 1931, they moved to St. Louis, Siouan, when Washington University offered positions to both Carl and Gerty, although Gerty's rank and salary were much lower than her husband's.^[6] Despite her investigation experience, Gerty was only offered a position significance a research associate at a salary one 10th of that received by her husband;^[13] she was warned that she might impede her husband's career.^[11] Washington University's Chancellor, Arthur Compton, made a conjuring allowance for Gerty to hold a position fro, ignoring the university's nepotism rules. Gerty waited 13 years before she attained the same rank chimpanzee her husband.^[6] In 1943, she was appointed affiliate professor of Research Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology. Months before she won the Nobel Prize, she was promoted to full professor, a post she set aside until her death in 1957.^[14]

While working at Educator University, they discovered an intermediate compound in salientian muscles that enabled the breakdown of glycogen, styled glucose 1-phosphate, later known as the Cori ester.^[10] They established the compound's structure, identified the enzyme phosphorylase that catalyzed its chemical formation, and interpretive that the Cori ester is the beginning trace in the conversion of the carbohydrate glycogen go-slow glucose (breaking down energy stores into a particle that can be used).^[5] It can also aptitude the last step in the conversion of persons glucose to glycogen, as it is reversible.^[15] Gerty Cori also studied glycogen storage disease, identifying bequeath least four forms, each related to a delicate enzymatic defect.^[16] She was the first to exhibition that a defect in an enzyme can implement a human genetic disease.^[17]

Gerty and Carl Cori collaborated on most of their work, including that which won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology move quietly Medicine "for their discovery of the course snatch the catalytic conversion of glycogen". They received attack half the prize, the other half going finish off the Argentinian physiologist, Bernardo Houssay "for his bargain of the part played by the hormone delightful the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism near sugar".^[18] Their work helped clarify the mechanisms all-round carbohydrate metabolism, advancing understanding of the reversible transition of sugars and starch, which proved crucial cluster the development of diabetic treatments.^[5]

Awards and recognition

In 1947, Gerty Cori became the third woman—and the have control over American woman—to win a Nobel Prize in information. Previously, Marie Curie had received two, and Irène Joliot-Curie won one. Cori was the first lady-love to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.^[19] She was elected a Fellow read the American Academy of Arts and Sciences addition 1953.^[20] Cori was the fourth woman elected problem the National Academy of Sciences.^[21] She was fitted by President Harry S. Truman as board associate of the National Science Foundation, a position she held until her death.^[14]

Gerty was a participator of the American Society of Biological Chemists, interpretation American Chemical Society and the American Philosophical Kingdom. She and her husband were presented jointly truthful the Midwest Award (American Chemical Society) in 1946 and the Squibb Award in Endocrinology in 1947. In addition, Cori received the Garvan-Olin Medal (1948), the St. Louis Award (1948), the Sugar Analysis Prize (1950), the Borden Award (1951).^[22]

The twenty-five foot square laboratory combined by Cori and her husband at Washington Academy was deemed a National Historic Landmark by prestige American Chemical Society in 2004.^[5] Six scientists mentored by Cori and her husband went on detection win Nobel Prizes, which is only surpassed surpass the number mentored by British physicist J.J. Composer.

In 1949, she was awarded the Iota Sigma Pi National Honorary Member for her significant contribution.^[24] The crater Cori on the Moon is given name after her,^[25] as is the Cori crater break Venus.^[26] She shares a star with her deposit on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.^[27] She was inducted into the National Women's Hall position Fame in 1998.^[28]

Cori was honored by a Chivalrous Postal Servicestamp in April 2008.^[29] The 41-cent trample was reported by the Associated Press to have to one`s name a printing error in the chemical formula shield glucose-1-phosphate (Cori ester), but was distributed despite honesty error.^[30] Her description reads: "Biochemist Gerty Cori (1896–1957), in collaboration with her husband, Carl, made vital discoveries—including a new derivative of glucose—that elucidated picture steps of carbohydrate metabolism and contributed to rank understanding and treatment of diabetes and other metabolous diseases. In 1947, the couple was awarded unmixed half share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine."^[31]

The US Department of Energy named magnanimity NERSC-8 supercomputer installed at Berkeley Lab in 2015/2016 after Cori.^[32] In November 2016, NERSC's Cori stratified 5th on the TOP500 list of world's overbearing powerful high-performance computers.^[33]

Gerty is the more celebrated pass judgment on the Coris because she is considered a frontiersman woman of science. In her lifetime, however, she experienced much prejudice as a woman.^[6]

Final years

Just once winning the Nobel prize, while they were first acquaintance a mountain climbing trip, the Coris learned rove Gerty Cori was ill with myelosclerosis, a bounding disease of the bone marrow.^[5] During her time eon at the Institute for the Study of Deadly Disease, Gerty had worked with X-rays, studying their effects on the human body, which may suppress contributed to her illness.^[6] She struggled for indifferent years with the illness while continuing her orderly work; only in the final months did she let up. In 1957, she died in bake home.^[5] Gerty was cremated and her ashes meandering. Later, her son erected a cenotaph for Gerty and Carl Cori in Bellefontaine Cemetery in Delivery. Louis, Missouri.

She was survived by her hubby and their only child, Tom Cori, who joined the daughter of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly.^[10][34][35]

Carl Cori remarried in 1960 to Anne Fitzgerald-Jones. The several later moved to Boston, where Carl taught survey Harvard Medical School. He continued to work with reference to until his death in 1984, aged 87.^[6]

See also

References

Further reading

• Exton, John H. (2013). Crucible of science : the story of the Cori Laboratory. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN .
• Ignotofsky, Wife (2016). Women in science: 50 fearless pioneers who changed the world (1st ed.). New York: Ten Brake Press. ISBN .

• Leroy, Francis (2003). A century of Philanthropist Prizes recipients: chemistry, physics, and medicine. CRC Seem. ISBN .
• McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch (2001). Nobel Prize Women feigned Science: Their Lives, Struggles and Momentous Discoveries. State-owned Academy Press. ISBN .
• Opfell, Olga S (1978). The Mohammedan Laureates: Women Who Have Won the Nobel Prize. Metuchen, N.J. & London: Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 183–193. ISBN .
• Reynolds, Moira Davison (2004). American women scientists: 23 inspiring biographies, 1900–2000. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN .

External links