Thursday, 15 September 2011

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi's 118th Birthday

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Google honors him with a delicious mouth-watering fruit-doodle. Szent-Gyorgyi was not the owner of an orange-farm but a Hungarianphysiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. This is why the doodle shows fruits especcially citrus-fruits like oranges: There is a lot of vitamin C in it :-)

As allways when Google shows a worldwide doodle I made a video with it for documantation. Here it is:

If you like please subscribe my youTube-Channel :-)

“In 1937, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “For his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion process with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid”. In 1938, he began work on the biophysics of muscle movement. He found that muscles contain actin, which when combined with the protein myosin and the energy source ATP, contract muscle fibers.

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

In 1947, Szent-Györgyi established the Institute for Muscle Research at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts with financial support from Hungarian businessman Stephen Rath. However, Szent-Györgyi still faced funding difficulties for several years, due to his foreign status and former association with the government of a Communist nation. In 1948, he received a research position with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland and began dividing his time between there and Woods Hole. In 1950, grants from the Armour Meat Company and the American Heart Association allowed him to establish the Institute for Muscle Research.” Source: Wikipedia.

If you like to understand what Szent-Gyorgyi dicovered take a look on this:

Citric acid cycle by Szent-Gyorgyi and Krebs

Thumbs up if you could explain it :-) I would say it was the right descision to give him the Nobel-prize ;-)

Albert Szent Gyorgyi died in 1986. He becomes 93 years old.

Happy birthday, Albert Szent Gyorgyi.

118th Albert Szent-Gyorgyi’s Birthday Doodle

Albert von Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt. In doodle Google today is the 118 th birthday. Born September 16, 1893, in Budapest, Hungary. He was a physiologist, who win Nobel Prize in Physiologist and Medicine in 1937. He discovered vitamin C and also the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. And he was also active in the Hungarian Resistance during World War II and entered Hungarian politics after the war.

In 1947 he migrated to United States, and he became naturalized citizen of United States in 1955.

118th Albert Szent-Gyorgyi’s Birthday Doodle

Google doodle today on September 16, 2011 is dedicated to Albert von Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt who born on September 16, 1893. He was a Hungarian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. He was also active in the Hungarian Resistance during World War II and entered Hungarian politics after the war.

Albert von Szent-Györgyi was born in Budapest on September 16, 1893, the son of Nicolaus von Szent-Györgyi, a great landed proprietor and Josefine, whose father, Joseph Lenhossék, and brother Michael were both Professors of Anatomy in the University of Budapest. He matriculated in 1911 and entered his uncle’s laboratory where he studied until the outbreak of World War I when he was mobilized. He served on the Italian and Russian fronts, gaining the Silver Medal for Valour, and he was discharged in 1917 after being wounded in action. He completed his studies in Budapest and then worked successively with the pharmacologist, G. Mansfeld at Pozsony, with Armin von Tschermak at Prague, where he studied electrophysiology, and with L. Michaelis in Berlin, before he went to Hamburg for a two-year course in physical chemistry at the Institute for Tropical Hygiene.

In 1920 he became an assistant at the University Institute of Pharmocology in Leiden and from 1922 to 1926 he worked with H. J. Hamburger at the Physiology Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands. In 1927 he went to Cambridge as a Rockefeller Fellow, working under F. G. Hopkins, and spent one year at the Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota, before returning to Cambridge. In 1930 he obtained the Chair of Medical Chemistry at the University of Szeged and in 1935 he also took the Chair in Organic Chemistry. At the end of World War II, he took the Chair of Medical Chemistry at Budapest and in 1947 he left Hungary to settle in the United States where he is Director of Research, Institute of Muscle Research, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Its nice they remember his birthday.

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Heute wäre der 118. Geburtstag von Albert Szent-Györgyi. Google ehrt den Mann mit einem sehr fruchtig-leckerem Orangen-Doodle. Auf den ersten Blick hält man Albert Szent-Györgyi wohl für einen Orangen-Plantagen-König oder so. Aber Albert Szent-Györgyi war ein ungarischer Mediziner und Biochemiker. Er hat unter anderem die Bedeutung des Vitamin C erforscht und in dem Zusammenhang den berühmten Zitronensäurezyklus “entdeckt”. Dafür hat er 1937 den Nobelpreis in Medizin erhalten.

Szent-Györgyi

Wahrschenlich wissen noch alle aus dem Bio-Unterricht, was derZitronensäuezyklus ist. Zu meiner Überraschung musste ich eben feststellen, dass der heute gar nicht mehr so heißt. Heute nennt man ihn “Citratzyklus“. Ist aber auch egal. Kurz zusammengefasst funktioniert das so: Die Stoffe, die man mit der Nahrung aufnimmt, werden gemeinsam mit dem Sauerstoff, den man mit der Atmung aufnimmt, zusammengemixt. Dabei wird die daraus resultierende Energie in körpereigenen “Energieträgern” gespeichert (Adenosin-tri-phisphat, ATP, also drei Phosphate). Während des Prozesses entstehen als Abfallprodukte Kohlendioxid und Wasser. Das ATP kann dann gezielt im Körper, zum Beispiel in Muskelzellen, genutzt werden, indem die Energie freigesetzt wird. Übrig bleibt Adenosin-Di-Phosphat (also nur noch zwei Phosphate). Im folgenden Schaubild sieht man, dass das ganz einfach ist (aber fruchtig sieht es auch aus, finde ich) ;-)

Zitronensäurezyklus - von Albert Szent-Györgyi entdeckt

Der Zitronensäure-Zyklus ist, wenn man so will, das Gegenstück zur Photosynthese. Beide Prozesse sind für den Stoffwechsel und damit für das Verständnis des Lebens von grundlegender Bedeutung. Der Nobelpreis für Medizin im Jahr 1937 hat sich Albert Szent-Györgyi schon echt verdient :-)

Fruchtiges Orangen Doodle für Szent Györgyi

Kommen wir damit zum Doodle. Auf den ersten Blick wird die Verbindung nicht ganz klar. Aber natürlich handelt es sich bei Orangen wie auch bei vielen anderen Früchten um Vitamin-C-Quellen. Und das Vitamin-C spielt im Zusammenhang mit den oben genannten Erforschungen eine wichtige Rolle. Man könnte sagen, dass das Vitamin-C die Forschungen von Szent-Györgyi erst angestoßen hat. Auf jeden Fall ein sehr frisches und fruchtiges Doodle:

Albert Szent Györgyi Google Doodle - fruchtiger Obstkisten-Aufkleber :-)

Albert Szent-Györgyi Lebenslauf

Der kleine Albert wurde 1893 in Budapest geboren. Nachdem er vom 1. Weltkrieg wegen einer Verletzung abgezogen wurde, studierte er verschiedene naturwisseschaftlichen Studien an verschiedenen Universität in Europa (darunter Budapest, Prag, Berlin, Hambur, Groningen, Cambridge).

Albert Szent Györgyi Foto

Zum Lebensverlauf heißt es bei Wikipedia: “Durch seine engagierte Gegnerschaft zum Nationalsozialismus erlangte er die schwedische Staatsbürgerschaft. Nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges emigrierte Szent-Györgyi 1947 in die USA, 1955 wurde er amerikanischer Staatsbürger. 1947 übernahm er die Leitung des Instituts für Muskulaturforschung der Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole (Massachusetts). Er emeritierte 1966. Aus seiner zweiten Ehe mit seiner Arbeitskollegin Márta Borbíró entstammt eine Tochter. Neben seinen wissenschaftlichen Schriften verfasste er während des Vietnamkrieges auch The Crazy Ape, eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Imperialismus.” Quelle (der Wikipedia-Artikel zu Albert Szent-Györgyi ist nach meiner Einschätzung übrigens ausgesprochen dürftig).

Albert Szent-Györgyi starb 1986 im Alter von 93. Jahren

Wie immer habe ich das Doodle auch als Video dokumentiert:

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Albert von Szent-Györgyi was born in Budapest on September 16, 1893, the son of Nicolaus von Szent-Györgyi, a great landed proprietor and Josefine, whose father, Joseph Lenhossék, and brother Michael were both Professors of Anatomy in the University of Budapest. He matriculated in 1911 and entered his uncle's laboratory where he studied until the outbreak of World War I when he was mobilized. He served on the Italian and Russian fronts, gaining the Silver Medal for Valour, and he was discharged in 1917 after being wounded in action. He completed his studies in Budapest and then worked successively with the pharmacologist, G. Mansfeld at Pozsony, with Armin von Tschermak at Prague, where he studied electrophysiology, and with L. Michaelis in Berlin, before he went to Hamburg for a two-year course in physical chemistry at the Institute for Tropical Hygiene.

Szent-Györgyi's early researches at Groningen concerned the chemistry of cell respiration. He described the interdependence of oxygen and hydrogen activation and made his first observations on co-dehydrases and the polyphenol oxidase systems of plants. He also demonstrated the existence of a reducing substance in plant and animal tissues. At Cambridge and during his early spell in the United States, he isolated from adrenals this reducing substance, which is now known as ascorbic acid. Returning to Cambridge in 1929, he later described the pharmacological activity of the nucleotides with Drury.

On his return to Hungary, he noted the anti-scorbutic activity of ascorbic acid and discovered that paprika (capsicum annuum) was a rich source of vitamin C. His persistent studies of biological oxidation led to the recognition of the catalytic function of the C₄-dicarboxylic acids, the discovery of «cytoflav» (flavin) and a recognition of the biological activity and probable vitamin nature of flavanone (vitamin P).

In 1938 he commenced work on muscle research and quickly discovered the proteins actin and myosin and their complex. This led to a reproduction of the fundamental reaction of muscle contraction which formed the foundation of muscle research in the following decades. The preservation of biological material in glycerine, which has had extensive application including agricultural use in the preservation of sperm, has resulted from his more recent work. He has also developed the use of rabbit psoas muscle as an experimental material, published theories on the problems of energetics and investigated the regulation of growth and cell membrane potential, and the hormonal function of the thymus gland.

Szent-Györgyi, a member of many scientifc societies, is a Past President of the Academy of Sciences, Budapest, and a Vice-President of the National Academy, Budapest. He was Visiting Professor, Harvard University in 1936 and Franchi Professor, University of Liège, 1938. He received the Cameron Prize (Edinburgh) in 1946 and the Lasker Award in 1954. His many publications include Oxidation, Fermentation, Vitamins, Health and Disease (1939); Muscular Contraction (1947); The Nature of Life (1947); Contraction in Body and Heart Muscle (1953); and Bioenergetics (1957).

Szent-Györgyi married Cornelia Demény, daughter of the Hungarian Postmaster-General, in 1917. During the 1930's he was actively anti-Nazi and during World War II he became a Swedish citizen - he was given extensive help by the Swedish Embassy in Budapest. In 1941, he married Màrta Borbiro, a co-worker at Woods Hole: they have one daughter.

He is interested in sport of all kinds, his favourites being sailing and alpinism.

From Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1965

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book seriesLes Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Albert Szent-Györgyi died on October 22, 1986.