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Severo Ochoa | |
|---|---|
 Severo Ochoa in 1958 | |
| Born | Severo Ochoa de Albornoz (1905-09-24)24 September 1905 |
| Died | 1 November 1993(1993-11-01) (aged 88) Madrid, Spain |
| Citizenship | Spanish (1905–1956),American (1956–1993) |
| Education | University of Madrid Medical School,University of Glasgow |
| Known for | Discovery of mechanisms in the biological synthesis of RNA and DNA |
| Spouse | Carmen Garcia Cobian[1] |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry,molecular biology |
| Institutions | Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology, Berlin;National Institute for Medical Research, London;New York University Grossman School of Medicine;Washington University School of Medicine |
| Academic advisors | Pedro Arrupe,Juan Negrín,Otto Meyerhof,Henry Hallett Dale |
Severo Ochoa de Albornoz (Spanish:[seˈβeɾooˈtʃoaðealβoɾˈnoθ]; 24 September 1905 – 1 November 1993) was a Spanishphysician andbiochemist, and winner of the 1959Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together withArthur Kornberg for their discovery of "the mechanisms in thebiological synthesis ofdeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)".[2][3][4][5]
Ochoa was born inLuarca (Asturias),Spain. His father was Severo Manuel Ochoa (who he was named after), a lawyer and businessman, and his mother was Carmen de Albornoz. Ochoa was the nephew ofÁlvaro de Albornoz (President of the Second Spanish Republic in exile and former Foreign Minister), and a cousin of the poet and criticAurora de Albornoz. His father died when Ochoa was seven, and he and his mother moved toMálaga, where he attended elementary school through high school. His interest in biology was stimulated by the publications of the Spanish neurologist and Nobel laureateSantiago Ramón y Cajal. In 1923, he went to theUniversity of Madrid Medical School, where he hoped to work with Ramón y Cajal, but Ramón y Cajal retired. He studied with fatherPedro Arrupe, andJuan Negrín was his teacher:[4]
Negrin opened wide, fascinating vistas to my imagination, not only through his lectures and laboratory teaching, but through his advice, encouragement, and stimulation to read scientific monographs and textbooks in languages other than Spanish.[4]
Negrín encouraged Ochoa and another student, José Valdecasas, to isolatecreatinine from urine.[4] The two students succeeded and also developed a method to measure small levels of muscle creatinine. Ochoa spent the summer of 1927 atUniversity of Glasgow working withD. Noel Paton oncreatine metabolism and improving his English skills. He also refined the assay procedure further and upon returning to Spain he and Valdecasas submitted a paper describing the work to theJournal of Biological Chemistry, where it was rapidly accepted,[6] marking the beginning of Ochoa's biochemistry career.[7]
Ochoa completed his undergraduate medical degree in the summer of 1929 and decide to go abroad again to gain further research experience. His creatine and creatinine work led to an invitation to joinOtto Meyerhof's laboratory at theKaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Berlin-Dahlem in 1929. At that time the institute was a "hot bed" of the rapidly evolving discipline of biochemistry, and thus Ochoa had the experience of meeting and interacting with scientists such asOtto Heinrich Warburg,Carl Neuberg,Einar Lundsgaard, andFritz Lipmann in addition to Meyerhof who had received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine less than a decade earlier.
In 1930 Ochoa returned to Madrid to complete research for his MD thesis, which he defended that year. In 1931, a newly minted MD, he married Carmen García Cobián. They did not have any children. He then began postdoctoral study at theNational Institute for Medical Research in London, where he worked withHenry Hallett Dale. His London research involved the enzymeglyoxalase and was an important departure in Ochoa's career in two respects. First, the work marked the beginning of Ochoa's lifelong interest in enzymes. Second, the project was at the cutting edge of the rapidly evolving study ofintermediary metabolism.[4]
In 1933 the Ochoas returned to Madrid where he began to study glycolysis in heart muscle. Within two years, he was offered the directorship of the Physiology Section in a newly created Institute for Medical Research at theUniversity of Madrid Medical School. Unfortunately the appointment was made just as theSpanish Civil War erupted. Ochoa decided that trying to perform research in such an environment would destroy forever his "chances of becoming a scientist." Thus, "after much thought, my wife and I decided to leave Spain." In September 1936 they began what he later called the "wander years" as they traveled from Spain to Germany, to England, and ultimately to the United States within a span of four years.[4][8]
Ochoa left Spain and returned to Meyerhof's Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology now relocated in Heidelberg, where Ochoa found a profoundly changed research focus. During his 1930 visit the laboratory work was "classical physiology," which Ochoa described as "one could see muscles twitching everywhere".[4] By 1936 Meyerhof's laboratory had become one of the world's foremost biochemical facilities focused on processes such asglycolysis andfermentation. Rather than studying muscles "twitch," the lab was now purifying and characterizing the enzymes involved in muscle action and those involved in yeast fermentation.
From then until 1938, he held many positions and worked with many people at many places. For example,Otto Meyerhof appointed him Guest Research Assistant at theKaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research inHeidelberg for one year. From 1938 until 1941 he was Demonstrator and Nuffield Research Assistant at theUniversity of Oxford.
Ochoa then went to the United States, where he again held many positions at several universities. Between 1940 and 1942, Ochoa worked forWashington University's School of Medicine.[9][10] In 1942 he was appointed research associate in medicine at theNew York University School of Medicine and there subsequently became assistant professor of biochemistry (1945), professor of pharmacology (1946), professor of biochemistry (1954), and chair of the department of biochemistry.
In 1956, he became an American citizen.[5] He was elected to both the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957. In 1959, Ochoa andArthur Kornberg were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biologicalsynthesis ofribonucleic acid anddeoxyribonucleic acid". He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1961.[11]
Ochoa continued research onprotein synthesis and replication ofRNA viruses until 1985, when he returned to now democratic Spain where he was a science advisor. Ochoa was also a recipient of U.S.National Medal of Science in 1978.
Severo Ochoa died inMadrid,Spain on 1 November 1993. Carmen García Cobián had died in 1986.
Long after his death, Spanish actressSara Montiel claimed that she and Severo Ochoa were involved in a romantic relationship in the 1950s, as stated in an interview in Spanish newspaperEl País: "The great love of my life was Severo Ochoa. But it was an impossible love. Clandestine. He was married, and besides, him doing research and me doing films wasn't a good match."[12]
A research center that was planned in the 1970s was opened in 1975 (CBM) in the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM). After his death, it was named the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa.[13]
InLeganés, Madrid, a hospital bears his name, as does theMadrid Metro station serving it,Hospital Severo Ochoa.
Theasteroid117435 Severochoa is also named in his honor.
In 2003, the Spanish General Post Office (Correos) issued a €0,76 postage stamp honoring Ochoa, as one of a pair featuring Spanish medical Nobel Prize winners[14] alongsideSantiago Ramón y Cajal.
In June 2011, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp honoring him,[15] as part of theAmerican Scientists collection, along withMelvin Calvin,Asa Gray, andMaria Goeppert-Mayer. This was the third volume in the series.
The main road in to the tourist resort Benidorm is named Avenida Dr. Severo Ochoa[16] in his honor.
