William D. McElroy

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William David McElroy (born January 22, 1917 in Rogers , Texas , † February 22, 1999 in San Diego , California ) was an American biochemist .

Life

McElroy graduated from Stanford University (on a football scholarship) with a bachelor's degree in 1937 and Reed College with a master's degree in biology. In 1943 he received his doctorate from Princeton University under E. Newton Harvey . He was a professor at Johns Hopkins University and was there from 1956 to 1969 the biology faculty. From 1969 to 1972 he was director of the National Science Foundation . From 1972 to 1980 he was Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, and thereafter he was professor of biology there.

He is known for studying bioluminescence in fireflies and recognized the role that luciferase and ATP play in this. In 1947 he found that the addition of ATP increased the glow of the fireflies. ATP works with luciferase to catalyze the oxidation of luciferin (the actual luminous substance, which is thereby raised to a higher energetic level, which ultimately leads to the emission of a photon). In 1953 he and colleagues discovered that in bacterial luminescence instead of luciferin, flavin mononucleotide is oxidized.

His research on bioluminescence also made him popular in the early 1950s when he paid school children 1 penny for each firefly caught.

In 1971 he received the Howard N. Potts Medal and in 1965 the Rumford Prize . In 1962 he became a member of the Science Advisory Committee of John F. Kennedy , which he remained under his successor Lyndon B. Johnson . In 1975 he was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1963), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1959) and the American Philosophical Society . He was president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the American Society of Biological Chemists.

The asteroid (1853) McElroy is named in his honor. The same applies to the McElroy Ridge in East Antarctic Victoria Land .

Fonts

  • The energy source of bioluminescence in an isolated system . Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 33 (1947), pp. 342-345.
  • with JW Hastings, V. Sonnenfefd, J. Coulombre: The requirement of riboflavin phosphate bacterial luminescence . Science, 118 (1953), pp. 385-386.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ William D. McElroy and the illuminating story of bioluminescence, Current Comments, No. 43, October 25, 1982 (PDF; 819 kB; English)
personal data
SURNAME McElroy, William D.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McElroy, William David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biochemist
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Rogers , Texas
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1999
Place of death San Diego , California