CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.
Today’s History Feature:
Dr. Max Ferdinand Perutz
(May 19, 1914 – Feb 6, 2002)
💠Austrian-Born British Scientist
🔸Max Perutz was born in Vienna to a family of textile manufacturers. His discerning teacher in school aroused his interest in chemistry.
🔸Hence, he did his studies in chemistry at the University of Vienna and in Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Later he received his Ph.D. in the same institute.
🔸He pursued an opportunity to work with his mentor J. D. Bernal, who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography in Molecular Biology.
🔸Dr. Perutz began his research by taking X-Ray diffraction pictures of haemoglobin crystals and worked with the powerful tool of X-Ray crystallography. By this technique, he studied about haemoglobin of various species.
🔸After consistent hard work of 20 years, he identified the Molecular Structure of Haemoglobin, which is constructed with 4 Polypeptide chain that form a tetrameric structure with 4 heme groups with central Iron atom.
🔸Further, he demonstrated the switching of deoxygenated and oxygenated haemoglobin.
🔸Finally, he was awarded with shared Nobel Prize in Chemistry with John Kendrew in 1962 for the contribution in X-ray diffraction analysis of the structure of globular proteins.
🔸In addition, he founded and served as chairman of “Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology” in Cambridge that eventually produced 14 Nobel Laureates.
🔸He further showed interest in the crystalline properties of glaciers (Glaciology). By crystallographic study, he demonstrated the transformation of Snow into Glacier.
🔸He was also a versatile writer who wrote with wonderful clarity, simplicity and covered a various range of topics.
🔸In conclusion, he declared that In Science, Truth Always Wins.
A Day to Commemorate…
A Scientist Who Unravelled the Atomic Mechanism of Haemoglobin
Dr. Max Ferdinand Perutz 🙏🏼
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