HARGOBIND KHORANA

Hargobind Khorana

Gist :

Hargobind Khorana was born on January 9^th 1922 in a Hindu family in a little village called Raipur in Punjab in British India. His father was determined to educate his children. Hargobind studied at the Punjab University in Lahore and obtained a M.Sc. degree.

Khorana lived in India until 1945. Government India awarded Fellowship which had thrown an opportunity for him to go to England. He studied for a Ph.D. degree at the University of Liverpool. He stayed in Cambridge from 1950 till 1952. He began research on nucleic acids at the University of Cambridge. His interest in both proteins and nucleic acids got strengthened at that time.

Hargobind held fellowships and professorships in Switzerland at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Universities of British Columbia and Wisconsin. In the 1960s Khorana corroborated 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.

Khorana shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1968 with Marshall W. Nierenberg and Robert W. Holley for research that helped to show how the genetic components of the cell nucleus control the synthesis of proteins. Nirenberg and Khorana cracked the genetic code and Holley sequenced and deduced the structure of the first RNA molecule. Khorana made a contribution to genetics in 1970. In 1976 Khorana lead the team that first synthesized a biologically active gene.

Dr. Khorana’s invention of oligonucleotides has become indispensable tools in biotechnology. Khorana is a person with an extraordinary sense of perseverance and uncommon vision.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

1. What kind of a job did Khorana’s father hold ?

Khorana’s father was a parwari, a village agricultural taxation clerk in the British Indian system of government.

2. What was his attitude to his children’s education ?

Although the family was poor, Khorana’s afther was determined to educate his children and they were actually the only literate family in their village inhabited by about 100 people.

3. How did the government of India help Hargobind in his studies ?

Government of India awarded a Fellowship and threw an opportunity to go to England.

4. Where and what did Hargobind study after he obtained a fellowship ?

Hargobind studied Ph.D. Degree at the University of Liverpool in England.

5. What was the role of Dr.Gordon M.Shrum of British Columbia in Khorana’s career ?

Dr.Godrdan M.Shrum of British Columbia offered Khorana a job. There was a great amount of freedom to do whatever the particular researcher liked to do.

6. Who are the other two significant people Khorana met in Vancouver ?

The other two significant people Khorana met in Vancouver were Dr. Jack Campbell and Dr.Gordon M. Tener.

7. What did Khorana achieve in the early 1960’s ?

In the 1960s Khorana corroborated 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.

8. Who did Khorana share the 1968 Nobel prize in Physiology/Medicine with and with what was their work concerned ?

Khorana shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1968 with Marshall W. Nierenberg and Robert W. Holley for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.

9. What were Khorana’s achievements during the 1970’s ?

Khorana made a contribution to genetics in 1970, when he and his research team were able to synthesize the first artificial copy of yeast gene.

10. What kind of a role did Khorana’s wife Esther Elizabeth Sibler play in his career ?

Khorana’s wife Esther Elizabeth Sibler greatly strengthened his sense of purpose. This is especially true in his life during the time when, after six years’ absence from the country of his birth, Khorana felt out of place everywhere and at home nowhere.

Bits :

1. Hargobind Khorana was borin on January 9^th,1922 in a little village called Raipur in Punjab in British India
2. Khorana’s father was a Patwari – a village agricultural taxation clerk
3. Hargogind Khorana studied at D.A.V High School in Multan (now in Pakistan)
4. Khorana studied at Punjab University in Lahore and obtained M.Sc. degree
5. Hargobind was influenced by Ratan Lal and Mr. Mahan Singh at School and University respectively.
6. Government of Indian Fellowship threw Khorana an opportunity to go to England
7. Khorana Studied Ph.D at the University of Liverpool
8. Khorana spent a year (1948-1949) at the Eidgenossische Technische Hoschschule in Zurich with Professor Vladimit Prelog
9. Khorana obtained a fellowship in England to work with Dr.G. W. Kenner and Professor A.R.Todd
10. At the University of Cambridge, Khorana began research on nucleic acids under Sir Alexander Todd
11. Hargobind was offered a job in 1952 by Dr. Gordon M. Shrum of British Columbia at Vancouver
12. Hargobind held fellowships and professorships in Switzerland at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Universities of British Columbia and Wisconsin
13. In 1960 Khorana joined the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin
14. Khorana shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1968 with Marshall W.Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley
15. The research which brought the Nobel Prize was their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.
16. Khorana’s role was to design the methods that led to the synthesis of well-defined acids, ultimately leading to the solution of the genetic code
17. Nirenberg and Khorana cracked the genetic code and Holley sequenced and deduced the structure of the first RNA molecule
18. Marshall Nirenberg 1927 was born in New York City.
19. Nirenberg passed out from the University of Florida with Bachelor of Science degree
20. Nirenberg acquired a Master’s degree in Zoology from University of Florida
21. Nirenberg completed his Ph.D at University of Michigan in 1957 on sugar transport in tumor cells
22. Khorana made his contribution to genetics in 1970, when he and his team were able to synthesize the first artificial copy of a yeast gene
23. Khorana joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology as Alfred P. Solan Professor of Biology and Chemistry in 1971
24. Khorana subsequently became a naturalized citizen of the United States
25. Hargobind Khorana married in 1952 to Esthre Elizabeth Sibler of Swiss origin
26. Julia Elizabeth (May 4^th 1953) Emily Anne (October 18^th 1954) and Dave Roy (July 26^th 1958) were the children of Khorana
27. Dr. Khorana was also the pioneering scientist to synthesize oligonucleotides, that is, strings of nucleotides
28. Dr. Khorana’s invention of oligonucleotides has become indispensable tools in biotechnology

29 . Khorana currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United states serving as MIT’s Alfred P. Solan Professor of Biology and Chemistry, Emeritus