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Ernst Chain

Sir Ernst Boris Chain FRS FRSA[2] (19 June 1906 – 12 August 1979) was a German-born British biochemist and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Sir
Ernst Chain
Chain in 1945
Born
Ernst Boris Chain

(1906-06-19)19 June 1906
Died12 August 1979(1979-08-12) (aged 73)
CitizenshipGerman (until 1939)
British (from 1939)
Alma mater
Known forDiscovery of penicillin
Spouse
(m. 1948)
Children3[1]
AwardsNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1945)
Fellow of the Royal Society (1948)
Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1954)
Knight Bachelor (1969)
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsImperial College London
University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
University College Hospital

Life and career edit

 
Dr Ernst Chain undertakes an experiment in his laboratory at the School of Pathology at Oxford University in 1944
 
Ernst Chain in his laboratory.

Chain was born in Berlin, the son of Margarete (née Eisner) and Michael Chain, a chemist and industrialist dealing in chemical products.[13][14] His family was of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish descent. His father emigrated from Russia to study chemistry abroad and his mother was from Berlin.[15] In 1930, he received his degree in chemistry from Friedrich Wilhelm University. His father descends from Zerahiah ben Shealtiel Ḥen who was a prominent figure among the Catalonian Jewry and whose ancestors were leading Jewish figures in Babylonia.[16] He was a lifelong friend of Professor Albert Neuberger, whom he met in Berlin in the 1930s.

After the Nazis came to power, Chain understood that, being Jewish, he would no longer be safe in Germany. He left Germany and moved to England, arriving on 2 April 1933 with £10 in his pocket. Geneticist and physiologist J. B. S. Haldane helped him obtain a position at University College Hospital, London.

After a couple of months he was accepted as a PhD student at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he began working on phospholipids under the direction of Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins. In 1935, he accepted a job at Oxford University as a lecturer in pathology. During this time he worked on a range of research topics, including snake venoms, tumour metabolism, lysozymes, and biochemistry techniques. Chain was naturalised as a British subject in April 1939.[17]

In 1939, he joined Howard Florey to investigate natural antibacterial agents produced by microorganisms. This led him and Florey to revisit the work of Alexander Fleming, who had described penicillin nine years earlier. Chain and Florey went on to discover penicillin's therapeutic action and its chemical composition. Chain and Florey discovered how to isolate and concentrate the germ-killing agent in penicillin. For this research, Chain, Florey, and Fleming received the Nobel Prize in 1945.

Along with Edward Abraham he was also involved in theorising the beta-lactam structure of penicillin in 1942,[18] which was confirmed by X-ray crystallography done by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1945. Towards the end of World War II, Chain learned his mother and sister had been killed by the Nazis. After World War II, Chain moved to Rome, to work at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Superior Institute of Health). He returned to Britain in 1964 as the founder and head of the biochemistry department at Imperial College London, where he stayed until his retirement, specialising in fermentation technologies.[19]

On 17 March 1948 Chain was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1948, he married Anne Beloff, sister of Renee Beloff, Max Beloff, John Beloff and Nora Beloff, and a biochemist of significant standing herself. In his later life, his Jewish identity became increasingly important to him. Chain was an ardent Zionist and he became a member of the board of governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science at Rehovot in 1954, and later a member of the executive council. He raised his children securely within the Jewish faith, arranging much extracurricular tuition for them. His views were expressed most clearly in his speech 'Why I am a Jew' given at the World Jewish Congress Conference of Intellectuals in 1965.[3]

Chain was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 1969 Birthday Honours.[20]

Chain died in 1979 at the Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar, Ireland. The Imperial College London biochemistry building is named after him,[19] as is a road in Castlebar.[15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "New Scientist". New Scientist Careers Guide: The Employer Contacts Book for Scientists. Reed Business Information: 51. 16 January 1986. ISSN 0262-4079.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Abraham, Edward (1983). "Ernst Boris Chain. 19 June 1906 – 12 August 1979". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 29: 42–91. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1983.0003. JSTOR 769796.
  3. ^ a b E. P. Abraham (2004). "'Chain, Sir Ernst Boris (1906–1979)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30913. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ Shampo, M. A.; Kyle, R. A. (2000). "Ernst Chain--Nobel Prize for work on penicillin". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 75 (9): 882. doi:10.4065/75.9.882. PMID 10994820.
  5. ^ Raju, T. N. (1999). "The Nobel chronicles. 1945: Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955); Sir Ernst Boris Chain (1906-79); and Baron Howard Walter Florey (1898-1968)". Lancet. 353 (9156): 936. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)75055-8. PMID 10094026. S2CID 54397485.
  6. ^ Notter, A. (1991). "The difficulties of industrializing penicillin (1928-1942) (Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, Ernst Boris Chain)". Histoire des Sciences Médicales. 25 (1): 31–38. PMID 11638360.
  7. ^ Abraham, E. P. (1980). "Ernst Chain and Paul Garrod". The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 6 (4): 423–424. doi:10.1093/jac/6.4.423. PMID 7000741.
  8. ^ Mansford, K. R. (1979). "Sir Ernst Chain, 1906-1979". Nature. 281 (5733): 715–717. Bibcode:1979Natur.281..715M. doi:10.1038/281715a0. PMID 399328.
  9. ^ Abraham, E. P. (1979). "Obituary: Sir Ernst Boris Chain". The Journal of Antibiotics. 32 (10): 1080–1081. doi:10.7164/antibiotics.32.1087. PMID 393682.
  10. ^ "Sir Ernst Chain". British Medical Journal. 2 (6188): 505. 1979. PMC 1595985. PMID 385104.
  11. ^ "Ernst Boris Chain". Lancet. 2 (8139): 427–428. 1979. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(79)90449-5. PMID 89493. S2CID 208792351.
  12. ^ Wagner, W. H. (1979). "In memoriam, Dr. Ernst Boris Chain". Arzneimittel-Forschung. 29 (10): 1645–1646. PMID 391241.
  13. ^ "Ernst B. Chain". Nobel Foundation. 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  14. ^ Forder, Arderne A. (1984). The more ye mow us down the more we grow: antibiotics in perspective. University of Cape Town. ISBN 9780799209501.
  15. ^ a b "Who was Sir Ernst Chain?". Connaught Telegraph. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  16. ^ Eliezer Laine and Zalman Berger, Avnei Chein - Toldot Mishpachat Chein, Brooklyn, New-York, 2004. Amazon link to book info
  17. ^ "No. 34622". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 May 1939. p. 2989.
  18. ^ Jones, David S.; Jones, John H. (1 December 2014). "Sir Edward Penley Abraham CBE. 10 June 1913 – 9 May 1999". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 60: 5–22. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2014.0002. ISSN 0080-4606.
  19. ^ a b Martineau, Natasha (5 November 2012). "Sir Ernst Chain is honoured in building naming ceremony". Imperial College London. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  20. ^ "No. 44894". The London Gazette. 11 July 1969. p. 7213.

Bibliography edit

  • Medawar, Jean; Pyke, David (2012). Hitler's Gift: The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime (Paperback). New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61145-709-4.

External links edit

  • Ernst Chain on Nobelprize.org   including the Nobel Lecture, 20 March 1946 The Chemical Structure of the Penicillins
  • Weintraub, B. (August 2003). "Ernst Boris Chain (1906–1979) and Penicillin". Chemistry in Israel (13). Israel Chemical Society: 29–32.
  • Ernst Chain at Find a Grave

ernst, chain, ernst, boris, chain, frsa, june, 1906, august, 1979, german, born, british, biochemist, recipient, nobel, prize, physiology, medicine, work, penicillin, sirfrs, frsachain, 1945bornernst, boris, chain, 1906, june, 1906berlin, german, empiredied12,. Sir Ernst Boris Chain FRS FRSA 2 19 June 1906 12 August 1979 was a German born British biochemist and co recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 SirErnst ChainFRS FRSAChain in 1945BornErnst Boris Chain 1906 06 19 19 June 1906Berlin German EmpireDied12 August 1979 1979 08 12 aged 73 Castlebar County Mayo IrelandCitizenshipGerman until 1939 British from 1939 Alma materFriedrich Wilhelm UniversityFitzwilliam College CambridgeKnown forDiscovery of penicillinSpouseAnne Beloff m 1948 wbr Children3 1 AwardsNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 Fellow of the Royal Society 1948 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 1954 Knight Bachelor 1969 Scientific careerFieldsBiochemistryInstitutionsImperial College London University of Cambridge University of Oxford Istituto Superiore di Sanita University College Hospital Contents 1 Life and career 2 See also 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External linksLife and career edit nbsp Dr Ernst Chain undertakes an experiment in his laboratory at the School of Pathology at Oxford University in 1944 nbsp Ernst Chain in his laboratory Chain was born in Berlin the son of Margarete nee Eisner and Michael Chain a chemist and industrialist dealing in chemical products 13 14 His family was of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish descent His father emigrated from Russia to study chemistry abroad and his mother was from Berlin 15 In 1930 he received his degree in chemistry from Friedrich Wilhelm University His father descends from Zerahiah ben Shealtiel Ḥen who was a prominent figure among the Catalonian Jewry and whose ancestors were leading Jewish figures in Babylonia 16 He was a lifelong friend of Professor Albert Neuberger whom he met in Berlin in the 1930s After the Nazis came to power Chain understood that being Jewish he would no longer be safe in Germany He left Germany and moved to England arriving on 2 April 1933 with 10 in his pocket Geneticist and physiologist J B S Haldane helped him obtain a position at University College Hospital London After a couple of months he was accepted as a PhD student at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge where he began working on phospholipids under the direction of Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins In 1935 he accepted a job at Oxford University as a lecturer in pathology During this time he worked on a range of research topics including snake venoms tumour metabolism lysozymes and biochemistry techniques Chain was naturalised as a British subject in April 1939 17 In 1939 he joined Howard Florey to investigate natural antibacterial agents produced by microorganisms This led him and Florey to revisit the work of Alexander Fleming who had described penicillin nine years earlier Chain and Florey went on to discover penicillin s therapeutic action and its chemical composition Chain and Florey discovered how to isolate and concentrate the germ killing agent in penicillin For this research Chain Florey and Fleming received the Nobel Prize in 1945 Along with Edward Abraham he was also involved in theorising the beta lactam structure of penicillin in 1942 18 which was confirmed by X ray crystallography done by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1945 Towards the end of World War II Chain learned his mother and sister had been killed by the Nazis After World War II Chain moved to Rome to work at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita Superior Institute of Health He returned to Britain in 1964 as the founder and head of the biochemistry department at Imperial College London where he stayed until his retirement specialising in fermentation technologies 19 On 17 March 1948 Chain was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society In 1948 he married Anne Beloff sister of Renee Beloff Max Beloff John Beloff and Nora Beloff and a biochemist of significant standing herself In his later life his Jewish identity became increasingly important to him Chain was an ardent Zionist and he became a member of the board of governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science at Rehovot in 1954 and later a member of the executive council He raised his children securely within the Jewish faith arranging much extracurricular tuition for them His views were expressed most clearly in his speech Why I am a Jew given at the World Jewish Congress Conference of Intellectuals in 1965 3 Chain was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 1969 Birthday Honours 20 Chain died in 1979 at the Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar Ireland The Imperial College London biochemistry building is named after him 19 as is a road in Castlebar 15 See also editList of Jewish Nobel laureatesReferences edit New Scientist New Scientist Careers Guide The Employer Contacts Book for Scientists Reed Business Information 51 16 January 1986 ISSN 0262 4079 permanent dead link Abraham Edward 1983 Ernst Boris Chain 19 June 1906 12 August 1979 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 29 42 91 doi 10 1098 rsbm 1983 0003 JSTOR 769796 a b E P Abraham 2004 Chain Sir Ernst Boris 1906 1979 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Vol 1 online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 30913 Subscription or UK public library membership required Shampo M A Kyle R A 2000 Ernst Chain Nobel Prize for work on penicillin Mayo Clinic Proceedings 75 9 882 doi 10 4065 75 9 882 PMID 10994820 Raju T N 1999 The Nobel chronicles 1945 Sir Alexander Fleming 1881 1955 Sir Ernst Boris Chain 1906 79 and Baron Howard Walter Florey 1898 1968 Lancet 353 9156 936 doi 10 1016 S0140 6736 05 75055 8 PMID 10094026 S2CID 54397485 Notter A 1991 The difficulties of industrializing penicillin 1928 1942 Alexander Fleming Howard Florey Ernst Boris Chain Histoire des Sciences Medicales 25 1 31 38 PMID 11638360 Abraham E P 1980 Ernst Chain and Paul Garrod The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 6 4 423 424 doi 10 1093 jac 6 4 423 PMID 7000741 Mansford K R 1979 Sir Ernst Chain 1906 1979 Nature 281 5733 715 717 Bibcode 1979Natur 281 715M doi 10 1038 281715a0 PMID 399328 Abraham E P 1979 Obituary Sir Ernst Boris Chain The Journal of Antibiotics 32 10 1080 1081 doi 10 7164 antibiotics 32 1087 PMID 393682 Sir Ernst Chain British Medical Journal 2 6188 505 1979 PMC 1595985 PMID 385104 Ernst Boris Chain Lancet 2 8139 427 428 1979 doi 10 1016 s0140 6736 79 90449 5 PMID 89493 S2CID 208792351 Wagner W H 1979 In memoriam Dr Ernst Boris Chain Arzneimittel Forschung 29 10 1645 1646 PMID 391241 Ernst B Chain Nobel Foundation 2013 Retrieved 17 July 2013 Forder Arderne A 1984 The more ye mow us down the more we grow antibiotics in perspective University of Cape Town ISBN 9780799209501 a b Who was Sir Ernst Chain Connaught Telegraph 6 October 2017 Retrieved 18 May 2019 Eliezer Laine and Zalman Berger Avnei Chein Toldot Mishpachat Chein Brooklyn New York 2004 Amazon link to book info No 34622 The London Gazette Supplement 5 May 1939 p 2989 Jones David S Jones John H 1 December 2014 Sir Edward Penley Abraham CBE 10 June 1913 9 May 1999 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 60 5 22 doi 10 1098 rsbm 2014 0002 ISSN 0080 4606 a b Martineau Natasha 5 November 2012 Sir Ernst Chain is honoured in building naming ceremony Imperial College London Retrieved 17 July 2013 No 44894 The London Gazette 11 July 1969 p 7213 Bibliography editMedawar Jean Pyke David 2012 Hitler s Gift The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime Paperback New York Arcade Publishing ISBN 978 1 61145 709 4 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ernst Boris Chain nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Ernst Chain Ernst Chain on Nobelprize org nbsp including the Nobel Lecture 20 March 1946 The Chemical Structure of the Penicillins Weintraub B August 2003 Ernst Boris Chain 1906 1979 and Penicillin Chemistry in Israel 13 Israel Chemical Society 29 32 Ernst Chain at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ernst Chain amp oldid 1215997481, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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