Khorana, Har Gobind

Khorana, Har Gobind
born Jan. 9, 1922, Raipur, India

Indian-born U.S. biochemist.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool and later taught in Canada and the U.S., from 1970 at MIT. He shared a 1968 Nobel Prize with Marshall Warren Nirenberg and Robert William Holley for research that helped show how the genetic components of the cell nucleus control the synthesis of proteins. His contribution was to synthesize small nucleic acid molecules whose exact structure was known. Combined with the proper materials, his synthetic nucleic acids caused protein synthesis, just as in the cell; comparing these proteins with the nucleic acid showed which portions of the nucleic acid were the codes for each part of the protein. In 1970 he prepared the first artificial copy of a yeast gene.

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▪ American biochemist

born Jan. 9, 1922, Raipur, India

      Indian-born American biochemist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 with Marshall W. Nirenberg (Nirenberg, Marshall Warren) and Robert W. Holley (Holley, Robert William) for research that helped to show how the nucleotides (nucleotide) in nucleic acids (nucleic acid), which carry the genetic code of the cell, control the cell's synthesis of proteins.

 Khorana was born into a poor family and attended Punjab University at Lahore and the University of Liverpool, England, on government scholarships. He obtained his Ph.D. at Liverpool in 1948. He began research on nucleic acids during a fellowship at the University of Cambridge (1951) under Sir Alexander Todd. He held fellowships and professorships in Switzerland at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Canada at the University of British Columbia (1952–59), and in the United States at the University of Wisconsin (1960–70). In 1966 Khorana became a naturalized citizen of the United States, and in 1971 he joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he remained until he retired in 2007. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Khorana received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (1968) and the National Medal of Science (1987).

      In the 1960s Khorana confirmed Nirenberg's findings that the way the four different types of nucleotides are arranged on the spiral “staircase” of the DNA molecule determines the chemical composition and function of a new cell. The 64 possible combinations of the nucleotides are read off along a strand of DNA as required to produce the desired amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Khorana added details about which serial combinations of nucleotides form which specific amino acids. He also proved that the nucleotide code is always transmitted to the cell in groups of three, called codons. Khorana also determined that some of the codons prompt the cell to start or stop the manufacture of proteins. Khorana made another contribution to genetics in 1970, when he and his research team were able to synthesize the first artificial copy of a yeast gene. His later research explored the molecular mechanisms underlying the cell signaling pathways of vision in vertebrates. His studies were concerned primarily with the structure and function of rhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein found in the retina of the vertebrate eye. Khorana also investigated mutations in rhodopsin that are associated with retinitis pigmentosa, which causes night blindness.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Khorana,Har Gobind — Kho·ra·na (kō räʹnə), Har Gobind. Born 1922. Indian born American biochemist. He shared a 1968 Nobel Prize for the study of genetic codes. * * * …   Universalium

  • Khorana , Har Gobind — (1922–1993) Indian–American chemist Khorana, who was born at Raipur (now in Pakistan), gained his BSc (1943) and MSc (1945) from the University of Punjab. He then traveled to Liverpool University to work for his doctorate. On receiving his PhD in …   Scientists

  • Khorana, Har Gobind — (n. 9 ene. 1922, Raipur, India). Bioquímico estadounidense nacido en India. Obtuvo su Ph.D. en la Universidad de Liverpool. Más tarde fue docente en Canadá y EE.UU., y desde 1970 en el MIT. En 1968 compartió el Premio Nobel con Marshall Warren… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Har Gobind Khorana — Infobox Scientist name = Har Gobind Khorana caption = Har Gobind Khorana birth date = birth date and age|1922|1|9 birth place =Raipur, Multan, Punjab, British India residence= U.S. nationality=U.S. field = Molecular Biology work institution =… …   Wikipedia

  • Har Gobind Khorana — 200px Har Gobind Khorana Nacimiento 9 de enero, de 1922 Raipur, Multan …   Wikipedia Español

  • Har Gobind Khorana — est un biologiste indien, né le 9 janvier 1922 à Raipur en Inde et mort le 9 novembre 2011. De famille pauvre et de mère analphabète, il fait sa première année d école en plein air au bord du désert du Ràjasthàn. À l aide de bourses, il obtient… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Har Gobind Khorana — Die Nobelpreisträger des Jahres 1968: ganz links Khorana, daneben von links nach rechts Robert Holley, Luis W. Alvarez, Marshall Warren Nirenberg, Lars Onsager, und Kawabata Yasunari Har Gobind Khorana (* wahrscheinlich 9. Januar 1922 in Raipur,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Gobind Khorana — Har Gobind Khorana Har Gobind Khorana (* 9. Januar 1922 in Raipur, Punjab (im heute pakistanischen Teil)) ist ein indisch US amerikanischer Molekularbiologe und Nobelpreisträger. Khorana gelang 1970 als erstem die künstliche Synthese eines Gens.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Khorana — Har Gobind Khorana Har Gobind Khorana (* 9. Januar 1922 in Raipur, Punjab (im heute pakistanischen Teil)) ist ein indisch US amerikanischer Molekularbiologe und Nobelpreisträger. Khorana gelang 1970 als erstem die künstliche Synthese eines Gens.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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