Irwin C. Gunsalus

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Irwin Clyde "Gunny" Gunsalus (born June 29, 1912 in Sully County , South Dakota , † October 25, 2008 in Andalusia , Alabama ) was an American biochemist and microbiologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . He did a great job studying the biochemistry of microbes . He also discovered the vitamin-like lipoic acid and researched other coenzymes .

Gunsalus studied bacteriology at Cornell University and received a bachelor's degree in 1933 , a master's in 1937 and a Ph.D. in 1940. Until 1947 he stayed at Cornell University, where he worked as a research assistant on coenzymes of bacterial metabolism.

In 1947 he moved to the Indiana University Bloomington as a professor of bacteriology and in 1950 to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , where he received a professorship in biochemistry (within bacteriology) and in 1955 became head of biochemistry (within chemistry). In 1982 Gunsalus retired from Urbana-Champaign , but then became the founding director of the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology , an establishment of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with locations in Trieste (Italy) and New Delhi (India). He later carried out ecological studies in the Gulf of Mexico for the Environmental Protection Agency .

Gunsalus et al. Contributed significantly to the understanding of the function of various coenzymes and of cytochrome P450 as well as other ferredoxins . In the context of the application of Mössbauer spectroscopy he cooperated with the physics department of the university and was thus one of the pioneers of biophysics . In 1959 he was founding editor of the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications .

Gunsalus received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949, 1959 and 1967 . In 1965 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences , in 1967 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1984 a foreign member of the Académie des Sciences . In 1982 he received the Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology , and in 1986 the William C. Rose Award .

Gunsalus was married three times, divorced once and widowed twice. He had seven children. Irwin Clyde Gunsalus died of heart failure at the age of 96 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Simon Guggenheim Foundation - Irwin C. Gunsalus. In: gf.org. Retrieved October 14, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ Irwin Gunsalus. In: nasonline.org. Retrieved October 14, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter G. (PDF; 931 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved October 14, 2017 (English).
  4. ↑ Les membres du passé dont le nom commence par G. In: academie-sciences.fr. Retrieved October 14, 2017 (French).
  5. ^ Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology. In: nasonline.org. Retrieved October 14, 2017 .
  6. ^ William C. Rose Award. In: asbmb.org. Retrieved October 14, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Gunsalus, Irwin C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gunsalus, Irwin; Gunsalus, Irwin Clyde (full name); Gunsalus, Gunny (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biochemist and microbiologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Sully County , South Dakota
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 2008
Place of death Andalusia , Alabama