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. Albrecht Kossel
(Sept 16, 1853 – July 5, 1927)
💠German Biochemist
💠Pioneer in Genetics
His contributions…
🔹Kossel studied medicine at the University of Strassburg, France and graduated in 1878.
🔹Then he began his career as a research assistant to his former professor Dr. Felix Hoppe-Seyler, who was the principal founder of the disciplines of Biochemistry and Molecular biology.
🔹While he was doing research in Seyler’s laboratory, he was the first to identify and isolate the Nucleic acid from pus cells. He further proceeded with his research on Nucleic acid and successfully extracted and described its five components.
🔹Subsequently, Dr. Kossel named those 5 organic compounds as Guanine, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Uracil, which are collectively called as Nucleobases.
🔹In fact, these are the key components in the formation of DNA and RNA, which are the genetic material present in all living cells.
🔹Furthermore, he discovered the amino acid Histidine.
🔹In addition, he was the first to isolate Theophylline, a therapeutic drug which is inherently found in cocoa beans and tea.
🔹Eventually, he was honoured with Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1910 for his immense work in determining the chemical composition of nucleic acids – the genetic substance of biological cells.
🔹In order to honour his research, The Albrecht Kossel Institute for Neuroregeneration at the University of Rostock was established in his memory.
🔹Later, these nucleobases were abbreviated as G, A, C, T and U. Today, we know that these are the letters (GACT) in DNA that carry the genetic code.
A Day to Commemorate…
An Eminent Scientist
The Hero of DNA
Dr. Albrecht Kossel🙏🏼
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