Severo Ochoa

Severo Ochoa (* September 24 1905 in Luarca, Asturias, Spain, † 1 November 1993 in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish- American biochemist. In 1959 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Life

Severo Ochoa was born in Luarca in the Spanish province of Asturias. His father, Manuel Ochoa Severo, a lawyer and businessman, died when Severo Ochoa was seven years old. Together with his mother, Carmen de Albornoz, then he moved to Malaga. He went to school there, graduating in 1921. His interest in biology was inspired by the works of the Spanish neurologist and Nobel Prize winner Santiago Ramón y Cajal. 1923 Ochoa went to the Medical Faculty of the University of Madrid, where he hoped to be able to work with Cajal, but he had already left the university. 1929 concluded Ochoa graduated with honors. He married two years later, Carmen Garcia Cobian. The marriage remained childless.

After graduating Ochoa went in 1929 to Otto Meyerhof to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and conducted research there on the biochemistry and physiology of the muscle. In 1931 he took a position at the University of Madrid, but soon came to London. By 1941, Ochoa had different places, working with scientists at several different places. Then he went to the United States. There he worked at several universities until he was at the New York University School of Medicine, first Assistant Professor of Biochemistry (1945 ), Professor of Pharmacology (1946 ), Professor of Biochemistry ( 1954), and Director of the Department of Biochemistry.

Ochoa was from 1958 a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

In 1956 he became an American citizen. 1985 Ochoa returned back to Spain, where he was active as a consultant in the Spanish science policy. Ochoa died in 1993 in Madrid. In his honor, a research institute named after him.

Services

Ochoa dealt mainly with enzymatic processes in biological oxidation and energy generation and transmission. He has contributed much to the knowledge of the carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism, the Kohlenstoffdioxidhaushalt and the biosynthesis of nucleic acid. His research included the biological function of vitamin B1, oxidative phosphorylation, carboxylation of gluconic acid and pyruvic acid, the photochemical reduction of pyridine nucleotide in photosynthesis, the key enzyme of the citric acid cycle, the polynucleotides phosphorylase and the genetic code.

In 1959 he received along with Arthur Kornberg received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the mechanism in the biological synthesis of RNA and DNA.

Ochoa continued his research on protein synthesis and reproduction of RNA continued until his return to Spain. He contributed to the deciphering of the genetic code.