DOROTHY HODGKINBy: Katie Neal

EARLY LIFEo Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin was born

on May 12, 1910, in Cairo, Egypt, to John and Grace Crowfoot.

o Dorothy was the first of four daughters.

o The danger of The World War caused Dorothy’s parents to send her and her three younger sisters to live in England with their grandmother.

Dorothy and her mother

PARENTAL INFLUENCEo Dorothy’s father, John, was an archaeologist and he and his wife, Grace, traveled the world for his job.

oDorothy often accompanied her parents on their journeys and greatly considered becoming an archaeologist.

oThen, Dorothy’s father introduced her to one of his colleagues, A.F. Joseph, who was a British soil chemist. He gave Dorothy materials to set up her own personal laboratory at her house, sparking Dorothy’s initial interest in science.

EDUCATIONo Dorothy was initially home schooled as a young girl. o She then attended the Sir John Leman School in Beccles, England, at age

eleven. o Here, she fought to be one of two girls allowed the opportunity to study

chemistry with the boys. o When she graduated, Dorothy was certain that she wanted to pursue

chemistry.o She attended the Somerville College for Women at Oxford University,

majoring in chemistry and crystallography. o She graduated from Oxford in 1931 and then went on to receive her

doctorate from Cambridge University in 1937. o While studying at Cambridge, Dorothy returned to Oxford in 1934 to teach

chemistry. She then taught there for the remainder of her working life.

FAMILY LIFEo Dorothy was married to Thomas Hodgkin in

1937.

o Dorothy’s husband, Thomas Hodgkin, was an African Studies Scholar and teacher. Thomas had to travel for his job, so Dorothy and Thomas did not live together until 1945.

o Despite this distance, Dorothy and Thomas maintained a happy marriage.

o Dorothy’s extensive work with X-rays raised the fear that she would not be capable of having children.

o Defying the odds, Dorothy had three healthy children: Luke in 1938, Elizabeth in 1941, and Toby in 1946.

Dorothy and Thomas

CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE

PEPSINo Dorothy was working with fellow chemist

J.D. Bernal at Cambridge University.

o In 1934, Bernal was the first to photograph single crystals of the protein pepsin.

o Dorothy then performed the analysis of pepsin’s weight and structure.

o This introduced a new breakthrough in crystallography. Crystallography could now determine the structure of atoms as well as their overall molecular shape.

Photograph of the original pepsin crystals exposed to x-

rays.

INSULIN o In 1935, Dorothy took the first x-ray

photographs of the crystal insulin.

o Although already photographed by Dorothy, determining the composition of insulin was a problem that many chemists worked to solve for over thirty years.

o To finish the work she started, Dorothy conquered her most complex task in 1969, and determined the 777 atoms that make up insulin.

o With the structure of insulin known, blood sugar levels were able to be regulated to combat Diabetes.

Dorothy holding her published 3D

structure of insulin

Dorothy’s original 3D structure of pig’s

insulin

CHOLESTERYL IODIDEo In 1941-1942, Dorothy became the first

person to determine a 3-D structure of a complex bio-organic molecule, cholesteryl iodide, through x-ray diffraction.

o X-ray diffraction is the process of finely grounding the material, or composition, you are studying in order to closely examine its build-up.

o Three dimensional structures were not able to be determined sooner because of the extremely difficult calculations that had to be made.

Structure of Cholesteryl Iodide

PENICILLIN o In 1944, Dorothy determined the

3-D structure of penicillin.

o Although not large, the ring structure of penicillin follows a very uncommon pattern. There are also many different types of penicillin that crystalize in various ways, making the structure difficult to determine.

o Penicillin was a brand new, essential drug that now fights many bacterial infections.

Dorothy’s molecular model of penicillin

VITAMIN B-12o In 1956, Dorothy

determined the structure of the Vitamin B-12.

o This was the most complex molecular structure determined up to this date.

o Vitamin B-12 was Dorothy’s most famous work and what she is most known for.

Structures of Vitamin B-12

AWARDS AND HONORS

NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

oDorothy was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 "for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances".

THE ORDER OF MERITo In 1965, Dorothy became the

second woman (after Florence Nightingale) to receive the Order of Merit.

o The Order of Merit is a prestigious British award, presented by the King and Queen, that recognizes an individual for outstanding work in their field.

o On May 12, 2014, Google honored Dorothy’s 104th birthday with this Google search representing Dorothy’s Cholesteryl Iodide model.

DEATHoDorothy Hodgkin suffered from a stroke at her home in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, England. oThis caused her death and she passed away on July, 29, 1994, at the age of 84. oAlthough Dorothy is no longer living, her discoveries will live on to effect the lives of countless people for many years to come.

“I was captured for life by chemistry and by crystals”

-Dorothy Hodgkin

CATALOG ENTRY Dorothy Hodgkin was a British

chemist who lived from 1910-1994. She is best known for developing

protein crystallography and determining the molecular

structures of insulin, penicillin, cholesteryl iodide, and vitamin B-

12.

RESOURCES USEDo http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geochemsheets/techniques /XRD.html

o http://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/google-doodles-dorothy-hodgkins-104th-birthday-522529

o http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/r206148?lang = en&region=US

ohttp://humantouchofchemistry.com/dorothy-mary-hodgkin.htm

ohttp://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/i052/10320686.aspx

o http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/molecular-synthesis-structure-and-bonding/hodgkin.aspx

o http://www.nndb.com/people/564/000100264 /

o http://biography.yourdictionary.com/dorothy-crowfoot-hodgkin

o http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v4/n11/fig_tab/nrm1243_I1.html