Bruce Merrifield centennial: pioneer of chemical synthesis on solid matrix

Bruce Merrifield (1921‒2006) was an American biochemist who, at the Rockefeller Institute, invented a highly efficient technique for producing peptides and proteins in the early 1960s. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984. We remember this highly original, low-profile contributor to chemistry on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth.

TAMM HORSFALL PROTEIN: THE MEN BEHIND THE EPONYM

Tamm–Horsfall Protein (uromodulin) is named after Igor Tamm and Franc Horsfall Jr who described it for the first time in 1952. It is a glycoprotein, secreted by the cells in the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle. This protein will perform a number of important pathophysiological functions, including protection against uroinfections, especially caused by E. Сoli, and protection against formation of calcium concernments in the kidney. Igor Tamm (1922-1995) is an outstanding cytologist, virologist and biochemist. He is one of the pioneers in the study of viral replication. He was born in Estonia and died in the USA. In 1964 he was elected for a professorship in Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, where has been working continuously. Since 1959, he became a head of the virology lab established by his mentor and co-author Franc Horsfall. In the course of studies on the natural inhibitor of viral replication, Tamm and Horsfall isolated and characterized biochemically a new protein named after their names. Franc Lappin Horsfall Jr (1906-1971) was a well-known clinician and virologist with remarkable achievements in internal medicine. He was born and died in the USA. He worked in the Rockefeller Hospital from 1934 to 1960, then in the Center for Cancer Research at the Sloan-Kettering Institute. Here he was a leader of a research team studying the molecular mechanisms of immunity, the effects of chemotherapy with benzimidazole compounds (together with I. Tamm), coxsackie viruses, herpes simplex virus, etc.

Karl Landsteiner: Entdecker der Blutgruppen in Wien – Nobelpreisträger in New York

ZusammenfassungAm 14. Juni 1868 wurde Karl Landsteiner (1868 – 1943) in Baden bei Wien geboren. Nach dem Studium der Medizin in Wien und der Chemie in München, Zürich und Würzburg arbeitete Landsteiner zwischen 1897 und 1908 am Pathologisch-Anatomischen Institut der Universität Wien, an der er sich 1903 auch habilitierte. Im Rahmen seiner Forschungen auf den Gebieten der Bakteriologie und der Serologie entdeckte er 1900/1901 das später unter der Bezeichnung AB0 bekannt gewordene System der menschlichen Blutgruppen. Der schon 1890 vom Judentum zum katholischen Glauben konvertierte Landsteiner war von 1908 – 1919 Prosektor am Wiener Wilhelminenspital, von 1919 – 1922 Prosektor am katholischen Krankenhaus in Den Haag. 1922 berief ihn Simon Flexner (1863 – 1946) an das Rockefeller Institute in New York, wo er bis zu seinem Tod als Forscher tätig war. 1930 erhielt Landsteiner den Nobelpreis für Physiologie oder Medizin für die Entdeckung der Blutgruppen. 1940 beschrieb er zusammen mit seinem Schüler Alexander Wiener (1907 – 1976) den Rhesusfaktor. Als Folge des in Österreich herrschenden Antisemitismus vor und während der NS-Zeit litt Landsteiner zeitlebens darunter, dass er nie nach Wien zurückberufen wurde. Erst 1961 wurde für ihn posthum eine Gedenktafel im Arkadenhof der Universität Wien aufgestellt.

Martha Wollstein: A pioneer American female clinician-scientist

Martha Wollstein was not only the first fully specialized pediatric perinatal pathologist practicing exclusively in a North America children’s hospital, she also blazed another pathway as a very early pioneer female clinician-scientist. Wollstein provided patient care at Babies Hospital of New York City from 1891 until her retirement in 1935, and also simultaneously worked for many years as a basic scientist at the prestigious Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Wollstein published over 65 papers, many frequently cited, during her career on a wide range of topics including pediatric and infectious diseases. Wollstein was a rare female in the field of pathology in an era when just a relatively small number of women became doctors in any medical specialty. Wollstein was born into an affluent Jewish American family in New York City in 1868 and graduated from the Women’s Medical College in 1889. This paper explores her family support and ethnic and religious background, which helped facilitate her professional success. During her time, she was recognized internationally for her research and was respected for her medical and scientific skills; unfortunately today her important career has been largely forgotten.

An amended history of tissue culture: Concerning Harrison, Burrows, Mall, and Carrel

The origin of tissue culture is commonly dated to 1907 and credited to Ross Harrison at Hopkins Medical School. But an unpublished letter from the 1942 offers a different interpretation and gives priority to Montrose Burrows with important contributions for the development of cell culture by Franklin Mall at Hopkins and Alexis Carrel at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City. The early development of tissue culture is reviewed and its applications in modern biology and medicine are briefly outlined.

The Beginning of “Free Money” Ideology in American Universities: Charles W. Eliot at Harvard, 1869–1909

During the period between 1870 and 1920, the gross national product of the United States increased more than sixfold, as revolutions in transportation, communications, and manufacturing sparked growth in the economy. Large industrial corporations emerged, and their growing power presented grave challenges for social policy, while their wealth enriched an unprecedented number of millionaires and multi-millionaires, whose contributions prompted an enormous increase in philanthropy across the nation. In particular, Andrew Carnegie sold his steel companies for $480,000,000 in 1901 and founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1902, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1905, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1911. Even more prominent, oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, “the most famous American of his day,” devoted $447,000,000 to endowing the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research in 1901, the General Education Board in 1903, the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial in 1918.

100 years of Rous sarcoma virus

The discovery of Rous sarcoma virus, which was reported by Peyton Rous in the Journal of Experimental Medicine 100 years ago, opened the field of tumor virology. It showed that some cancers have infectious etiology, led to the discovery of oncogenes, and laid the foundation for the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Rous spent his entire research career at The Rockefeller Institute, and he was the JEM’s longest serving editor. Here, we comment briefly on the life of this remarkable scientist and on the importance of his discoveries.

Introduction: Impact of C. Vann Woodward’s The Burden of Southern History

Special Edition – Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society and Rockefeller Institute Conference on the Ongoing Impact of C. Vann Woodward’s The Burden of Southern History