Indian born Nobel Laureate

Hargobind Khorana(Prof. Emeritus) (MIT)Born: January 9, 1922 (1922-01-09) (age 87)Raipur, Multan, Punjab, British India Residence :U.S.

Nationality: U.S.

Fields: Molecular Biology

Institutions :MIT(1970 - )University of Wisconsin, Madison(1960-70)University of British Columbia(1952-60)Cambridge University(1950-52)Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (1948-49)

Alma mater: University of Liverpool(Ph.D.)University of the Punjab(B.S.)(M.S.) Known for :First to demonstrate the role of Nucleotides in protein synthesis

Notable awards: Nobel Prize in Medicine (1968)

Multan-the town where Khorana studied

HargobindKhorana did his schooling in DAV(DayanandAnglo-vedicschool) located in Multan (now in Pakistan)

University of Punjab

He Obtained his post graduate degree from University of Punjab in Lahore. While he was doing his M.Sc he was greatly influence by a teacher by name Mahan Singh.

University of Liverpool

A Government of India fellowship enabled Khorana to go to England, where he joined University of Liverpool and pursued his P.hD. His thesis guide Roger J.S Beer treated him very affectionately and under his guidance he successfully completed his P.hD.

Vladimir PrelogVladimir Prelog (July 23, 1906 –January 7,1998) was a renowned Swiss-Croatian chemist and Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. Prelog lived and worked in Prague, Zagreb and Zürich

during his lifetime. After finishing his Ph.D Khorana spent a year with Professor Vladimir Prelog for doing post doctoral work. This association with Professor Prelog further moulded profoundly his thought and philosophy towards science, work and effort.

Khorana’s research

Professor Har Gobind Khorana was one of three scientists awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1968 - for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.

Khorana’s research at Cambridge University

Khorana carried out his research at Cambridge University between 1950 and 1952. He worked under Sir Alexander Todd. His interest in both proteins and nucleic acids got strengthened at that time.

The Genetic Code

Khorana’s role in genome research was to design the methods that led to the synthesis of well-defined nucleic acids, ultimately leading to the solution of the genetic code. Dr. Khorana and his team had established that the mother of all codes, the biological language common to all living organisms, is spelled out in three-letter words.

Amino Acid (Structure)

Amino acids are the building blocks of Proteins. Khorana supplemented details about which serial combinations of nucleotides form specific amino acids.

The Structure of DNA

One of the most important components of Khorana’s research is DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information.

General chemical structure of an organophosphate

An organophosphate (sometimes abbreviated OP) is the general name for esters of phosphoric acid. Phosphates are probably the most pervasive organophosphorus compounds. Many of the most important biochemicals are organophosphates, including DNA and RNA as well as many cofactors that are essential for life.

DNA Protein SynthesisProtein synthesis is the process in which cells build proteins. The term is sometimes used to refer only to protein translation but more often it refers to a multi-step process, beginning with amino acid synthesis and transcriptionof nuclearDNA into messenger RNA which is then used as input to translation.

The role of Codons

Khorana found that the nucleotide code is always transmitted to the cell in groups of three, called codons. Khorana also showed that some of the codons prompt the cell to start or stop the manufacture of proteins.

Chemical Composition of a cell

In 1960 s Khorana corroborated Nirenberg’s findings that the way the four different types of nucleotides are arranged on the spiral “staircase” of the DNA molecule determines the chemical composition and function of a new cell.

Marshall Warren Nirenberg-Profile

Marshall Warren Nirenberg

Born: April 10, 1927

(age 81)Nationality: U.S.

Alma mater: University of Michigan

Known for: genetic code

Notable awards: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968

Differentiation between two biochemicals(DNA and RNA)

Nucleobases (or nucleotide bases) are the parts of DNA and RNA that may be involved in pairing. The main ones are cytosine, guanine, adenine

(DNAand RNA), thymine

(DNA) and uracil (RNA), abbreviated as C, G, A, T, and U, respectively. They are usually simply called bases in genetics. Because A, G, C, and T appear in the DNA, these molecules are called DNA-bases; A, G, C, and U are called RNA-bases.

Robert W. HolleyRobert William Holley (January 28, 1922 –February 11,1993) was an American biochemist, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 for describing the structure of alanine transfer RNA, linking DNA and protein synthesis. He shared the prize with Hargobind Khorana and Marshall Nirenberg.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Hargobind Khorana currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States serving as MIT’s Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Biology and Chemistry, Emeritus. MIT is considered to be one of the greatest Technical educational institutions in the world.

Acknowledgement:The sources that were explored in the preparation

of this PP Presentation are:

www.wikipedia.org

This PP Presentation made byV.Ramachandra ReddyM.A., M.Phil., (Ph.D)

Lecturer in English