Mildred Cohn

Mildred Cohn
Born(1913-07-12)July 12, 1913
New York City, New York, US
DiedOctober 12, 2009(2009-10-12) (aged 96)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
EducationHunter College, Columbia University
SpouseHenry Primakoff
ChildrenThree
Parents
  • Isidore Cohn (father)
  • Bertha Klein Cohn (mother)
AwardsGarvan–Olin Medal (1963)
Elliott Cresson Medal (1975),
National Medal of Science (1982)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysical Biochemistry
InstitutionsNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
University of Pennsylvania
Washington University School of Medicine
Doctoral advisorHarold Urey

Mildred Cohn (July 12, 1913 – October 12, 2009)[1][2] was an American biochemist who furthered understanding of biochemical processes through her study of chemical reactions within animal cells. She was a pioneer in the use of nuclear magnetic resonance for studying enzyme reactions, particularly reactions of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).[3]

She received the nation's highest science award, the National Medal of Science, in 1982,[4] and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Early life

Cohn's parents, childhood sweethearts Isidore Cohn and Bertha Klein Cohn,[3] were Jewish. Her father was a rabbi. They left Russia for the United States around 1907. Mildred Cohn was born July 12, 1913, in the Bronx, where her family lived in an apartment. When Mildred was 13, her father moved the family to a Yiddish-speaking cooperative, Heim Gesellschaft, which strongly emphasized education, the arts, social justice, and the preservation of Yiddish culture.[5]

Education

Cohn graduated from high school at 14.[6] She went on to attend Hunter College, which was both free and open to all qualified women, irrespective of race, religion or ethnic background.[7] She received her Bachelor's cum laude in 1931.[6] She managed to afford a single year at Columbia University, but was ineligible for an assistantship because she was a woman.[7] After receiving her master's degree in 1932, she worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics for two years.[6] Although she had a supportive supervisor, she was the only woman among 70 men, and was informed that she would never be promoted.[7] She subsequently returned to Columbia, studying under Harold Urey, who had just won the Nobel Prize.[8] Originally, Cohn was working to study the different isotopes of carbon. However, her equipment failed her, and she could not finish this project. She went on to write her dissertation on oxygen isotopes and earned her PhD in physical chemistry in 1938.[9]

Career

External videos
video icon “I didn’t intend to be an assistant for the rest of my life; so I started a new field of research”, talk given at the Science History Institute in 2005.

With Urey's recommendation, Cohn was able to obtain a position as a research associate in the laboratory of Vincent du Vigneaud at the George Washington University Medical School in Washington, D.C.. There Cohn conducted post-doctoral studies on sulfur-amino acid metabolism using radioactive sulfur isotopes. Cohn pioneered the use of isotopic tracers to examine the metabolism of sulfur-containing compounds.[10] When du Vigneaud moved his laboratory to Cornell University Medical College in New York City, Cohn and her new husband, physicist Henry Primakoff, moved to New York as well.[7][11]

In 1946, Henry Primakoff was offered a faculty appointment at Washington University School of Medicine. Cohn was able to obtain a research position with Carl and Gerty Cori in their biochemistry laboratory in the university's school of medicine.[11] There, she was able to choose her own research topics. She used nuclear magnetic resonance to investigate the reaction of phosphorus with ATP, revealing considerable information about the biochemistry of ATP,[3] including the structure of ATP, oxidative phosphorylation and role of divalent ions in the enzymatic conversion of ATP and ADP.[12]

When asked in later life about her most exciting moments in science, Cohn replied: "In 1958, using nuclear magnetic resonance, I saw the first three peaks of ATP. That was exciting. [I could] distinguish the three phosphorus atoms of ATP with a spectroscopic method, which had never been done before."[12] Using a stable isotope of oxygen, Cohn discovered how phosphorylation and water are part of the electron transport system of the metabolic pathway oxidative phosphorylation, the ubiquitous process used by all aerobic organisms to generate energy, in the form of ATP, from nutrients. She elucidated how the divalent metal ions are involved in the enzymatic reactions of ADP and ATP by studying NMR spectra of the phosphorus nuclei and the structural change in the presence of various divalent ions.[10]

In 1958, she was promoted from research associate to associate professor.[7] In 1960, Cohn and her husband joined the University of Pennsylvania. Mildred was appointed as an associate professor of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry, and became a full professor the following year.[2][11] In 1964, she became the first woman to receive the American Heart Association's Lifetime Career Award, providing support until she reached age sixty-five.[13] In 1971, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[7] She was elected to the American Philosophical Society the following year.[14] In 1982, she retired from the faculty as the Benjamin Rush Professor Emerita of Physiological Chemistry.[11] In 1984, Cohn received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[15]

In the course of her career, Mildren Cohn worked with four Nobel laureates, who received three Nobel prizes:

Achievements

Attending the Brown Bag Lecture in 2005

Cohn wrote 160 papers, mostly on her primary research subject of using nuclear magnetic resonance to study ATP.[12] She received a number of honorary doctorates.

She won the American Chemical Society's Garvan-Olin Medal in 1963.[18] In 1968, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[19] She was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1975, for her work on nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of enzymatic complexes. She received the International Organization of Women Biochemists Award[20] in 1979.[6] She received Columbia University's Chandler Medal in 1986.[21]

She was presented with the National Medal of Science by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 for 'pioneering the use of stable isotopic tracers and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the study of the mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis'.[22]

During her career, Cohn achieved several gender firsts: She was the first woman to be appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, where she served as editor from 1958–63 and from 1968–73. She was also the first woman to become president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, then called the American Society of Biological Chemists (serving as such from 1978 to 1979),[23][24][25] and the first woman career investigator for the American Heart Association.[2][11] In 2009, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.[2][26]

Marriage

Mildred Cohn was married to physicist Henry Primakoff from 1938 until his death in 1983.[4] They had three children, all of whom earned doctorates.[7] Mildren Cohn is quoted in Elga Wasserman's book, The Door in the Dream: Conversations With Eminent Women in Science, as saying “My greatest piece of luck was marrying Henry Primakoff, an excellent scientist who treated me as an intellectual equal and always assumed that I should pursue a scientific career and behaved accordingly.”[1][7]

Partial bibliography

  • Cohn, Mildred; Hughes, T. R. (1960). "Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectra of adenosine diphosphate and triphosphate. I. Effect of PH". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 235: 3250–3. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(20)81346-5.
  • Cohn, Mildred; Hughes, T. R. (1962). "Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of adenosine di- and triphosphate. II. Effect of complexing with divalent metal ions". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 237: 176–81. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)81382-5. PMID 13880359.
  • Cohn, Mildred (1953). "A study of oxidative phosphorylation with 0-18 labeled inorganic phosphate". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 201 (2): 735–50. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)66231-3. PMID 13061412.

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b Schudel, Matt (October 23, 2009). "Mildred Cohn, 96; acclaimed scientist overcame bias". Washington Post.
  2. ^ a b c d Martin, Douglas (November 11, 2009). "Mildred Cohn, Biochemist, Is Dead at 96". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Oakes, Elizabeth H. (2007). Encyclopedia of world scientists (Rev. ed.). New York: Facts on File. p. 145. ISBN 9780816061587. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  4. ^ a b Maugh, Thomas H. (2009-10-13). "Mildred Cohn dies at 96; chemist applied physics to problems of biology, earned National Medal of Science". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ Mildred Cohn, Ph.D.: The Science of Fearlessness, Video, 18 min 43 sec, Science History Institute, Philadelphia, PA
  6. ^ a b c d Gortler, Leon (15 December 1987). Mildred Cohn, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Leon Gortler at University of Pennsylvania on 15 December 1987 and 6 January 1988 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Wasserman, Elga (2002). The door in the dream: conversations with eminent women in science (Reprinted in pbk. ed.). Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 0309086191.
  8. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1934: Harold C. Urey". The Nobel Foundation. 1934.
  9. ^ "Mildren Cohn (1913–2009)". American Chemical Society.
  10. ^ a b Kresge, Nicole; Simoni, Robert D.; Hill, Robert L. (2009-11-06). "Succeeding in Science Despite the Odds; Studying Metabolism with NMR by Mildred Cohn". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 284 (45): e12-3. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(19)54831-1. PMC 2781545. PMID 19891052.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Mildred Cohn (b. 1913)". Bernard Becker Medical Library.
  12. ^ a b c Johnson, Erica P. (2003-10-06). "First Person | Mildred Cohn (Interview)". The Scientist.
  13. ^ Barrer, Betty. "Mildred Cohn". Jewish Women's Archive.
  14. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  15. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  16. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1947: Carl Cori, Gerty Cori, Bernardo Houssay". The Nobel Foundation. 1947.
  17. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1955: Vincent du Vigneaud". The Nobel Foundation. 1955.
  18. ^ "Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal". American Chemical Society.
  19. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter C" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  20. ^ Hyman, Paula E.; Moore, Deborah Dash, eds. (1997). Jewish women in America. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415919363.
  21. ^ De Bary, William Theodore; Mathewson, Tom, eds. (2006). Living legacies at Columbia. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 208. ISBN 0231138849.
  22. ^ "The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details, Mildred Cohn". The National Science Foundation.
  23. ^ "ASBMB". ASBMB. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  24. ^ "ASBMB Presidents :: 1978 – Mildred Cohn". Asbmb.org. Archived from the original on 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  25. ^ "Mildren Cohn (1913–2009) - American Chemical Society". Acs.org. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  26. ^ "Mildren Cohn - National Women's Hall of Fame". National Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2013-10-13.
Library resources about
Mildred Cohn
By Mildred Cohn

Read other articles:

Swinging London

Swinging London, Carnaby Street, tahun 1966. Swinging London adalah suatu istilah yang digunakan untuk menggambarkan mode, musik dan budaya yang berkembang di London, Inggris, pada tahun 1960-an. Swinging London adalah suatu fenomena budaya yang berorientasi pada gaya hidup remaja yang menekankan pada hal-hal yang sifatnya baru dan modern. Fenomena ini juga dianggap sebagai periode optimisme dan hedonisme serta menjadi awal dari revolusi budaya di Inggris sebelum era Pop yang menyebar ke selu...

 

 

The Shadow (rapper)

Israeli rapper The ShadowEliasi in 2009Background informationBirth nameYoav EliasiBorn (1977-11-22) November 22, 1977 (age 46)OriginSafed, IsraelGenres Hip hop Israeli hip hop political hip hop Years active1994–presentLabelsUnicellMusical artist Yoav Eliasi (Hebrew: יואב אליאסי; born November 22, 1977), commonly known by his stage name The Shadow (Hebrew: הצל, Ha-Tzel) is an Israeli rapper, blogger, and right-wing political activist. He was part of the roster of artists on...

 

 

Hendrik de Cock

Hendrik de CockLahir(1801-04-12)12 April 1801Meninggal14 November 1842(1842-11-14) (umur 41)PekerjaanPendeta Hendrik de Cock (12 April 1801 – 14 November 1842) adalah seorang pendeta Belanda. Hendrik de Cock memprotes liberalisme teologi dalam Gereja Reformasi yang dikontrol pemerintah Belanda pada abad ke-18. Protes ini berujung pada Perpecahan (Afscheiding) tahun 1834. Ia terkadang disebut bapak Perpecahan 1834. Referensi http://www.dbnl.nl/auteurs/auteur.php?id=cock01...

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Regional wholesaler of water in Southern California Metropolitan Water District of Southern CaliforniaWater district overviewFormed1928; 96 years ago (1928)Headquarters700 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, California34°3′17″N 118°14′11″W / 34.05472°N 118.23639°W / 34.05472; -118.23639Water district executiveAdel Hagekhalil, General ManagerWebsitewww.mwdh2o.com The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a regional wholesaler...

 

 

Taxation in Switzerland

Part of a series onTaxation An aspect of fiscal policy Policies Government revenue Property tax equalization Tax revenue Non-tax revenue Tax law Tax bracket Flat tax Tax threshold Exemption Credit Deduction Tax shift Tax cut Tax holiday Tax amnesty Tax advantage Tax incentive Tax reform Tax harmonization Tax competition Tax withholding Double taxation Representation Unions Medical savings account Economics General Theory Price effect Excess burden Tax incidence Laffer curve Optimal tax Theor...

 

 

Margaret Wotton

Margaret Wotton Margaret Wotton (Boughton Malherbe, 1487 – 1541) fu una nobile inglese. Indice 1 Biografia 2 Le dispute col figlio 3 Note 4 Bibliografia 5 Voci correlate 6 Altri progetti Biografia Era figlia di Sir Robert Wotton di Boughton Malherbe, nel Kent, e di Anne Belknap, sorella di Sir Edward Belknap. Due suoi fratelli ricoprirono rilevanti posizioni nel governo: Sir Edward Wotton fu tesoriere a Calais mentre Nicholas Wotton fu tra i diplomatici che organizzarono il matrimonio tra E...

Weiler-Simmerberg

Weiler-Simmerberg Balai kota Weiler-Simmerberg Lambang kebesaranLetak Weiler-Simmerberg di Lindau NegaraJermanNegara bagianBayernWilayahSchwabenKreisLindauPemerintahan • MayorKarl-Heinz RudolphLuas • Total31,30 km2 (1,210 sq mi)Ketinggian tertinggi900 m (3,000 ft)Ketinggian terendah630 m (2,070 ft)Populasi (2013-12-31)[1] • Total6.115 • Kepadatan2,0/km2 (5,1/sq mi)Zona waktuWET/WMPET...

 

 

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation

Nova Scotia Liquor CorporationTypical NSLC store in the South End of Halifax in 2018, before legalization of cannabisCompany typeCrown corporationIndustryRetail (department & discount)FoundedMay 1, 1930HeadquartersHalifax, Nova ScotiaProductsBeverage alcohol, cannabis (selected outlets)Revenue approx: $239.2 million CADWebsitehttp://www.myNSLC.com The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) is the Crown corporation which controls sales of alcoholic beverages and recreational cannabis in Nov...

 

 

Alkynylation

Addition reaction which combines a −C≡CH and a C=O group to form >C(OH)C≡C− In organic chemistry, alkynylation is an addition reaction in which a terminal alkyne (−C≡CH) is added to a carbonyl group (C=O) to form an α-alkynyl alcohol (R2C(−OH)−C≡C−R).[1] [2] When the acetylide is formed from acetylene (HC≡CH), the reaction gives an α-ethynyl alcohol. This process is often referred to as ethynylation. Such processes often involve metal acetylide inter...

King's Trough

La King's Trough è una fossa oceanica situata nell'Oceano Atlantico, sul fianco orientale della dorsale medio atlantica. È posizionata a nordovest del sollevamento del fondale marino compreso tra le isole Azzorre e il golfo di Biscaglia, circa 400 km a nord-nordest delle Azzorre. Descrizione La fossa sottomarina ha una lunghezza di circa 400 km e si estende in direzione nordovest-sudest. A est si biforca in due diramazioni chiamate Peake Deep e Freen Deep. La zona centrale si trov...

 

 

コルク

この記事は検証可能な参考文献や出典が全く示されていないか、不十分です。出典を追加して記事の信頼性向上にご協力ください。（このテンプレートの使い方）出典検索?: コルク – ニュース · 書籍 · スカラー · CiNii · J-STAGE · NDL · dlib.jp · ジャパンサーチ · TWL（2017年4月） コルクを打ち抜いて作った瓶の栓 コルク（木栓、�...

 

 

Hamba Rakyat (acara televisi)

Untuk kegunaan lain, lihat Sluha Narodu (partai politik). Hamba RakyatGenre Komedi politik PembuatVolodymyr ZelenskyyPemeran Volodymyr Zelenskyy Stanislav Boklan Olena Kravets Jury Krapov Mykhailo Fatalov Oleksandr Pikalov Eugene Koshovyi Viktor Saraykin Natalia Sumska Kateryna Kisten Angelina Zelenskyy Penggubah lagu temaDmytro ShurovPenata musik Andriy Kiryuschenko Negara asalUkrainaBahasa asliRusiaUkrainaJmlh. musim3Jmlh. episode51ProduksiProduser eksekutif Volodymyr Zelenskyy Produs...

Gaff (clothing)

Garment that hides a penile bulge A homemade gaff, used by trans women and cross-dressers A gaff is a piece of fabric, usually augmented by an elastic such as a rubber band, that is designed to hide a penile bulge. It is usually worn by trans women or male cross-dressers. Since the 2010s, underwear manufacturers have begun to design underwear with the same function as gaffs. Home-made gaffs are often made by cutting the ends off a single sock, then placing a pair of elastic loops through them...

 

 

ヨハネス12世 (ローマ教皇)

ヨハネス12世 第130代 ローマ教皇 教皇就任 955年12月16日教皇離任 964年5月14日先代 アガペトゥス2世次代 レオ8世個人情報出生 937年スポレート公国（中部イタリア）スポレート死去 964年5月14日 教皇領、ローマ原国籍 スポレート公国親 父アルベリーコ2世（スポレート公）、母アルダその他のヨハネステンプレートを表示 ヨハネス12世（Ioannes XII、937年 - 964年5月14日）は、ロ...

 

 

中華民國國軍中的中共間諜列表

 本表是動態列表，或許永遠不會完結。歡迎您參考可靠來源來查漏補缺。 潛伏於中華民國國軍中的中共間諜列表收錄根據公開資料來源，曾潛伏於中華民國國軍、被中國共產黨聲稱或承認，或者遭中華民國政府調查審判，為中華人民共和國和中國人民解放軍進行間諜行為的人物。以下列表以現今可查知時間為準，正確的間諜活動或洩漏機密時間可能早於或晚於以下所歸�...

Shwe Pyi Aye

In this Burmese name, the given name is Shwe Pyi Aye. There is no family name. Alinka KyawswaShwe Pyi Ayeရွှေပြည်အေးBornTin Maung Aye13 February 1909Rangoon, British rule in BurmaDied22 October 1977 (1977-10-23) (aged 68)Yangon, BurmaAlma materRangoon University, Yale UniversityOccupation(s)Musician, ComposerParent(s)U Nu (father)Daw Hlaing (mother)AwardsAlinkar Kyawswar Shwe Pyi Aye (Burmese: ရွှေပြည်အေး; born Tin Maung Aye 13 Februa...

 

 

Chinese people in Egypt

National group in Egypt Ethnic group Chinese people in EgyptTotal population6,000–10,000 (2007)[1]Regions with significant populationsCairo · Alexandria[2]Related ethnic groupsOverseas Chinese Chinese people in Egypt form one of the smaller groups of overseas Chinese; however, they are a very diverse community with a history reaching back for over a century.[3] Students Republic of China Chinese muslim General Ma Bufang with his family in w:Egypt 1954. ...

 

 

Surya Bikram Gyawali

Nepali historian Surya Bikram GyawaliNepali stamp featuring Gyawali c. 1987Native nameसूर्यविक्रम ज्ञवालीBorn(1898-06-10)10 June 1898Benaras, British IndiaDied1 December 1985(1985-12-01) (aged 87)Kathmandu, Kingdom of NepalOccupationHistorianNationalityNepali Surya Bikram Gyawali (Nepali: सूर्यविक्रम ज्ञवाली; born 10 June 1898 – 1 December 1985) was a Nepali historian. He wrote biographies for numerous people inclu...

Gavin & Stacey

British TV sitcom (2007–2019) Gavin & StaceyGenre Sitcom Created by James Corden Ruth Jones Written by James Corden Ruth Jones Directed byChristine GernonStarring Mathew Horne Joanna Page James Corden Ruth Jones Alison Steadman Larry Lamb Melanie Walters Rob Brydon Theme music composerStephen FretwellOpening themeRun by Stephen FretwellCountry of originUnited KingdomOriginal languageEnglishNo. of series3No. of episodes21 (list of episodes)ProductionExecutive producers Henry Normal Linds...

 

 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1250

United Nations resolution adopted in 1999 UN Security CouncilResolution 1250Satellite view of the island of CyprusDate29 June 1999Meeting no.4,018CodeS/RES/1250 (Document)SubjectThe situation in CyprusVoting summary15 voted forNone voted againstNone abstainedResultAdoptedSecurity Council compositionPermanent members China France Russia United Kingdom United StatesNon-permanent members Argentina Bahrain Brazil Canada Gabon Gambia...