Carl F. Nathan

Carl F. Nathan (born April 20, 1946 in New York City ) is an American microbiologist and immunologist.

From 1963 Nathan studied East Asian history at Harvard University (bachelor's degree in 1967 summa cum laude , with a senior honors thesis on plague control in Manchuria) and then medicine ( MD 1972, focus on immunology). He then worked as an assistant doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital , researched from 1974 at Yale University in oncology and from 1977 at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City on immune defense against pathogens. Since 1985 he has been Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell University's Weill Medical College .

In John David's research group at Harvard, Nathan demonstrated that a specific cytokine , gamma interferon , activates macrophages in the immune system. He found the first such macrophage activating messenger substance of the immune system. His group was also able to demonstrate the effectiveness of interferon gamma against bacterial infection (leprosy) in clinical studies. He also found cytokines that deactivate macrophages and thus stop inflammatory processes, TGF-beta and interleukin -10. Nathan also turned to the antibacterial action of macrophages and found a new class (in addition to hydrogen peroxide and oxygen radicals) of antibacterial substances produced by them, nitrogen oxides and their metabolites (RNI, reactive nitrogen intermediates). His group succeeded in isolating and cloning an important enzyme, induced nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS). He also explained how tubercle bacteria counteract this and produce substances that counteract the nitrogen oxides.

In 2009 he received the Robert Koch Prize . In 2011 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences and in 2016 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Plague prevention and politics in Manchuria. 1910-1931 (= Harvard East Asian Monographs. ) Vol. 23, ISSN 0073-0483 . Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA et al. 1967.
^ American Academy of Arts and Sciences : Newly Elected Fellows. In: amacad.org. Retrieved April 22, 2016 .

personal data
SURNAME	Nathan, Carl F.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American microbiologist and immunologist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 20, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City

[1] Plague prevention and politics in Manchuria. 1910-1931 (= Harvard East Asian Monographs. ) Vol. 23, ISSN 0073-0483 . Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA et al. 1967.

[2] American Academy of Arts and Sciences : Newly Elected Fellows. In: amacad.org. Retrieved April 22, 2016 .