Gerty Theresa Cori (néeRadnitz; August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957[2]) was a Czech and Americanbiochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for her role in the "discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion ofglycogen".[3]
Cori was born inPrague, the capital of Bohemia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Growing up at a time when women were marginalized and allowed few educational opportunities, she gained admittance to medical school, where she met her future husbandCarl Ferdinand Cori in an anatomy class.[4] Upon their graduation in 1920, they married. Because of deteriorating conditions in Europe, the couple emigrated to the United States in 1922. Gerty Cori continued her early interest in medical research, collaborating in the laboratory with Carl. She published research coauthored with her husband, as well as publishing singly. Unlike her husband, she had difficulty securing research positions, and the ones she obtained provided meager pay. Her husband insisted on continuing their collaboration, though he was discouraged from doing so by the institutions that employed him.
In 1957, Gerty Cori died after a ten-year struggle withmyelosclerosis. She remained active in the research laboratory until the end of her life. She received recognition for her achievements through multiple awards and honors.
Gerty Cori was born Gerty Theresa Radnitz into aJewish family in Prague,Bohemia,Austria-Hungary (modernCzech Republic) in 1896. Her father, Otto Radnitz, was a chemist who became manager ofsugar refineries after inventing a successful method for refining sugar. Her mother, Martha, a friend ofFranz Kafka, was a culturally sophisticated woman.[5] Gerty was tutored at home before enrolling in alyceum for girls, and at the age of 16, she decided she wanted to be a medical doctor. Pursuing the study of science, Gerty learned that she lacked the prerequisites in Latin, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Over the course of a year, she managed to study the equivalent of eight years of Latin, five years of science, and five years of mathematics.[6]
Her uncle, a professor of pediatrics, encouraged her to attend medical school, so she studied for and passed the university entrance examination. She was admitted to the medical school of theKarl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prague in 1914, an unusual achievement for women at that time.
While studying, she metCarl Cori, who was immediately attracted to her charm, vitality, sense of humor, and her love of the outdoors and mountain climbing.[7] Gerty and Carl had both entered medical school at 18 and both graduated in 1920. They married that same year.[6] Gertyconverted to Catholic Christianity, enabling her and Carl to marry in the Catholic Church.[8][9] They moved toVienna, capital of Austria, where Gerty spent the next two years at the Carolinen Children's Hospital, and her husband worked in a laboratory.[7] While at the hospital, Gerty Cori worked on the pediatrics unit and conducted experiments in temperature regulation, comparing temperatures before and after thyroid treatment, and published papers onblood disorders.[5]
Carl was drafted into theAustrian army and served during World War I.[6] Life was difficult after the war, and Gerty developeddry eye caused by severe malnutrition due to food shortages. These problems, in conjunction with the increasing anti-Semitism, contributed to the Coris' decision to leave Europe.[10]
In 1922, the Coris bothimmigrated to the United States (Gerty six months after Carl because of difficulty in obtaining a position) to pursue medical research at what later became theRoswell Park Cancer Institute inBuffalo, New York. In 1928, they becamenaturalized citizens.[11][12] The director of the institute threatened to dismiss Gerty if she did not cease collaborative research with her husband. She continued to work with Carl and was nevertheless kept on at the institute.[6]
She was constantly in the laboratory, where we two worked alone. We washed our own laboratory glassware and she would occasionally complain bitterly to Carl about not having any dishwashing help. When she tired, she would retire to her small office adjoining the laboratory, where she would rest on a small cot. She smoked incessantly and dropped cigarette ashes constantly ...
Although the Coris were discouraged from working together at Roswell, they continued, specializing in investigatingcarbohydrate metabolism. They were particularly interested in howglucose ismetabolized in the human body and the hormones that regulate this process.[7] They published fifty papers while at Roswell. The lead author of each paper was the one who had done the most research. Gerty Cori published eleven articles as the sole author. In 1929, they proposed the theoretical cycle that later won them the Nobel Prize, theCori cycle.[11] The cycle describes how the human body uses chemical reactions to break some carbohydrates such asglycogen in muscle tissue intolactic acid, while synthesizing others.[10]
The Coris left Roswell in 1931 after publishing their work on carbohydrate metabolism. Several universities offered Carl a position but refused to hire Gerty. Gerty was informed during one university interview that it was considered "un-American" for a married couple to work together.[5] Carl refused a position at theUniversity at Buffalo because the school would not allow him to work with his wife.[6]
In 1931, they moved toSt. Louis, Missouri, whenWashington University offered positions to both Carl and Gerty, although Gerty's rank and salary were much lower than her husband's.[6] Despite her research experience, Gerty was only offered a position as a research associate at a salary one tenth of that received by her husband;[13] she was warned that she might impede her husband's career.[11] Washington University's Chancellor,Arthur Compton, made a special allowance for Gerty to hold a position there, ignoring the university's nepotism rules. Gerty waited thirteen years before she attained the same rank as her husband.[6] In 1943, she was appointed associate professor of Research Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology. Months before she won the Nobel Prize, she was promoted to full professor, a post she held until her death in 1957.[14]
While working at Washington University, they discovered an intermediate compound in frog muscles that enabled the breakdown of glycogen, calledglucose 1-phosphate, later known as theCori ester.[10] They established the compound's structure, identified the enzymephosphorylase that catalyzed its chemical formation, and deduced that the Cori ester is the beginning step in the conversion of the carbohydrate glycogen into glucose (breaking down energy stores into a form that can be used).[5] It can also be the last step in the conversion of blood glucose to glycogen, as it is reversible.[15] Gerty Cori also studiedglycogen storage disease, identifying at least four forms, each related to a particular enzymatic defect.[16] She was the first to show that a defect in an enzyme can cause a human genetic disease.[17]
Gerty and Carl Cori collaborated on most of their work, including that which won the 1947Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen". They received one half the prize, the other half going to the Argentinian physiologist,Bernardo Houssay "for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar".[18] Their work helped clarify the mechanisms of carbohydrate metabolism, advancing understanding of the reversible conversion of sugars and starch, which proved crucial to the development of diabetic treatments.[5]
Despite rampant gender discrimination and nepotism rules, she never stopped pursuing her lifelong interest in medical research. Brilliant and quick-witted, Cori was a superb experimentalist as well as a perfectionist.[23]
The twenty-five foot square laboratory shared by Cori and her husband at Washington University was deemed a National Historic Landmark by the American Chemical Society in 2004.[5] Six scientists mentored by Cori and her husband went on to win Nobel Prizes, which is only surpassed by the number mentored by British physicistJ.J. Thomson.
Cori was honored by aUS Postal Servicestamp in April 2008.[29] The 41-cent stamp was reported by theAssociated Press to have a printing error in the chemical formula forglucose-1-phosphate (Cori ester), but was distributed despite the error.[30] Her description reads: "Biochemist Gerty Cori (1896–1957), in collaboration with her husband, Carl, made important discoveries—including a new derivative of glucose—that elucidated the steps of carbohydrate metabolism and contributed to the understanding and treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. In 1947, the couple was awarded a half share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine."[31]
Gerty is the more celebrated of the Coris because she is considered a pioneer woman of science. In her lifetime, however, she experienced much prejudice as a woman.[6]
Just before winning the Nobel prize, while they were on a mountain climbing trip, the Coris learned that Gerty Cori was ill withmyelosclerosis, a fatal disease of the bone marrow.[5] During her years at the Institute for the Study of Malignant Disease, Gerty had worked with X-rays, studying their effects on the human body, which may have contributed to her illness.[6] She struggled for ten years with the illness while continuing her scientific work; only in the final months did she let up. In 1957, she died in her home.[5] Gerty was cremated and her ashes scattered. Later, her son erected acenotaph for Gerty and Carl Cori inBellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
She was survived by her husband and their only child, Tom Cori, who married the daughter of conservative activistPhyllis Schlafly.[10][34][35]
Carl Cori remarried in 1960 to Anne Fitzgerald-Jones. The two later moved to Boston, where Carl taught atHarvard Medical School. He continued to work there until his death in 1984, aged 87.[6]
^Rachel, Swaby (2015).Headstrong : 52 women who changed science-- and the world (First ed.). New York.ISBN9780553446791.OCLC886483944.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abcdefghijShepley, Carol Ferring (2008).Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales from Bellefontaine Cemetery. St. Louis, MO: Missouri History Museum.
^abcdLarner, Joseph (1992)."Gerty Theresa Cori". National Academy of Sciences. pp. 113, 124, 125. RetrievedJune 17, 2010.
^Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri."Gerty Theresa Cori (1896–1957)". Bernard Becker Medical Library. RetrievedJune 17, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Gardner, A. L. (1997)."Gerty Cori, Biochemist, 1896–1957"(PDF).Women Life Scientists: Past, Present, and Future – Connecting Role Models to the Classroom Curriculum. American Physiological Society. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on June 9, 2011. RetrievedJune 24, 2010.
McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch (2001).Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles and Momentous Discoveries. National Academy Press.ISBN0-309-07270-0.
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