| 词条 | Barbara Low (biochemist) |
| 释义 |
| name = Barbara Low | image =Barbara W. Low.jpg | alt = | caption = Low in 1960 | birth_name = Barbara Wharton Low | birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|03|23}} | birth_place = Lancaster, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|01|10|1920|03|23}}[1] | death_place = Riverdale, Bronx, New York, US | residence = | nationality = British/American | education = B.A. (1943), {{nowrap|M.A. (1946),}} {{nowrap|D.Phil. (1948)}} | alma_mater = Somerville College, Oxford | field = Biochemistry, Biophysics | workplaces = Columbia University | known_for = Discovery of penicillin structure, discovery of pi helix | notable_works = | title = Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics | boards = | partner = {{ill|Metchie J. E. Budka|pl|Metchie Budka}} | awards = | doctoral_advisor = Dorothy Hodgkin | notable_students = Frederic M. Richards, {{nowrap|Helen M. Berman,}} {{nowrap|Clara Shoemaker}} }} Barbara Wharton Low (March 23, 1920 – January 10, 2019) was a biochemist, biophysicist, and a researcher involved in discovering the structure of penicillin and the characteristics of other antibiotics. Her early work at Oxford University with Dorothy Hodgkin used X-ray crystallography to confirm the molecular structure of penicillin, which at the time was the largest molecule whose structure has been determined using that method. Later graduate work saw her study with Linus Pauling and Edwin Cohn before becoming a professor in her own right. Low's laboratory would accomplish the discovery of the pi helix, investigate the structure of insulin, and conduct research into neurotoxins. Childhood and educationLow was born on March 23, 1920 in Lancaster, England to her parents, Matthew Low and Mary Jane Wharton. She undertook her tertiary education at Somerville College, Oxford, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1943. The same year she began work under the biochemist Dorothy Hodgkin. Due to Hodgkin's focus on protein crystallography, for which she was later awarded a Nobel prize, Low and her academic colleagues were engaged in researching the use of X-rays to determine the structure of crystallized proteins.[1] Low obtained Master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry from Oxford University in 1946 and 1948 respectively, before moving on to a research associate position at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). To do so, she obtained a United States passport through emigration and later full citizenship in 1956.[2] While at Caltech, she worked under Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling for a year before moving to another yearly research associate position at Harvard University working with Edwin Cohn.[2] The following year, in 1950, Harvard offered Low her first academic appointment as assistant professor of biophysical chemistry. She relocated to Columbia University in 1956 as an associate professor, and was promoted to a full professorship in 1966. Low continued at Columbia until her retirement in 1990 as professor emerita of biochemistry and molecular biophysics. She still did routine academic rounds as a "Special Lecturer" at the university, however, up until 2013.[2][1] CareerDuring Low's early work with the Hodgkin laboratory in the final years of World War II, she discovered the sulfur elemental components of penicillin that allowed for its mass production and later transformation into other antibiotic compounds. Up to that point, a pure sample of penicillin had not been successfully synthesized due to a lack of understanding of its physical structure of the compound, specifically the variation of its penam core.[1] Due to the size of the molecule, only careful examination of the X-ray results allowed for any information on the overall construction, but the two finally completed the investigation in 1945.[8] At that time, it was the largest molecule ever to have had its structure determined by crystallography.[8] Because the knowledge Low and Hodgkin obtained was of such importance and the research had been funded by the UK government, however, their work on penicillin remained classified for decades afterwards.[3] At Harvard, Low turned to topics she would continue in her later positions at Columbia University: the structure and composition of insulin and structural investigations into albumin crystals.[4] Once her Columbia lab was established, Low also included research into neurotoxins on her schedule, including curare and its derivatives. The general protein studies from her lab resulted in 1952 with the discovery of the pi helix, a fundamental structural component of a significant number of proteins.[3] As a member of the Columbia University committee on affirmative action, Low strongly believed in diversifying the faculty and workstaff at the university. She wished to help improve the standing of women in science and did so in one way by hiring and nurturing a large number of female graduate students in her lab.[3] Honors and awardsLow was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1953.[5] Personal lifeIn 1950, Low married Harvard historian {{ill|Metchie J. E. Budka|pl|Metchie Budka}}.[1] She was widowed in 1995[2] and spent her later years at her home in Riverdale, Bronx.[1] Selected works
References1. ^1 2 3 4 {{cite news| first=Sam| last=Roberts| title=Barbara Low, Whose Research Identified the Shape of Penicillin, Dies at 98 | work=The New York Times | date=March 13, 2019 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/obituaries/barbara-low-dead.html | access-date=March 19, 2019}} 2. ^1 2 3 4 {{cite web | title=BARBARA LOW Obituary| website=The New York Times | date=February 25, 2019 | url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=barbara-low&pid=191650567 | access-date=March 19, 2019}} 3. ^1 2 3 4 {{cite web | title=Barbara Low: Pioneer in X-Ray Crystallography | website=Columbia University Irving Medical Center | date=March 5, 2019 | url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/barbara-low-pioneer-x-ray-crystallography | access-date=March 15, 2019}} 4. ^{{cite journal | last=Edsall | first=John T. | title=Some Personal History and Reflections from the Life of a Biochemist | journal=Annual Review of Biochemistry | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=40 | issue=1 | year=1971 | issn=0066-4154 | doi=10.1146/annurev.bi.40.070171.000245 | pages=1–29}} 5. ^{{cite web | title=Barbara Wharton Low | website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences | date=March 27, 2018 | url=https://www.amacad.org/person/barbara-wharton-low | access-date=March 15, 2019}} Further reading
13 : British women biologists|British biochemists|British biophysicists|American women biologists|20th-century American biologists|1920 births|2019 deaths|20th-century British biologists|American people of English descent|Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford|Harvard University faculty|Columbia University faculty|Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 随便看 |
|
开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识，基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识，是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。