Folke Karl Skoog | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1908-07-15)July 15, 1908 Halland, Sweden |
| Died | February 15, 2001(2001-02-15) (aged 92) |
| Resting place | Uppsala old cemetery, Sweden |
| Alma mater | Caltech |
| Known for | Murashige and Skoog medium |
| Spouse | Birgit Skoog |
| Awards | National Medal of Science (1991) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant physiology |
| Institutions | Caltech,Berkeley,University of Hawaiʻi,Harvard,Johns Hopkins University,Washington University in St. Louis,University of Wisconsin |
| Thesis | Some Physiological Functions of the Growth Hormone in Higher Plants (1936) |
| Notable students | Toshio Murashige |
Folke Karl Skoog (July 15, 1908 – February 15, 2001) was a Swedish-born Americanplant physiologist who was a pioneer in the field of plant growth regulators, particularlycytokinins. Skoog was a recipient of theNational Medal of Science 1991.[1][2]
Born inHalland, Sweden, Skoog immigrated to the United States during a trip toCalifornia in 1925, and was naturalized as a citizen almost a decade later. He competed, and finished sixth in heat 2, in the 1500 meter race during the1932 Summer Olympics.[3] In 1936, he received his PhD in biology fromCaltech for his work done withauxin, a plant hormone.
In 1937,[4] Skoog was apostdoctoral researcher withDennis Robert Hoagland, and his professional career advanced significantly with his arrival at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison in 1947.Carlos O. Miller discoveredkinetin in 1954,[5] andbenzyladenine and related compounds were later synthesized in Skoog's lab.
In 1962, Skoog andToshio Murashige published what is probably the best-known paper in plant tissue culture. In a fruitless attempt to discover a yet-unknown plant growth regulator intobacco juice for his doctoral thesis, Murashige instead developed a greatly improved salt-based formulation for the sterile culture of tobacco. Now referred to asMurashige and Skoog medium, the final paper (Murashige, T. and Skoog, F. (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol Plant 18: 100-127) is one of the most often-cited papers in biology.[6] Now, more than 60 years after the work, theMS medium remains an essential component inplant tissue culture, but not inhydroponics.[7]
In 1970, Skoog was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences and in 1992, he received the ″Lifetime Achievement Award″ from theSociety for In Vitro Biology (SIVB).[8]
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