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  3. August
  4. 15
  5. Gerty Cori

Births on August 15

Gerty Cori
1896Aug, 15

Gerty Cori

Gerty Cori, Czech-American biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
Gerty Theresa Cori (née Radnitz; August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957) was an Austro-Hungarian-American biochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for her significant role in the "discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen".Cori was born in Prague (then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now the Czech Republic). Gerty was not a nickname, but rather she was named after an Austrian warship. Growing up at a time when women were marginalized in science and allowed few educational opportunities, she gained admittance to medical school, where she met her future husband Carl Ferdinand Cori in an anatomy class; upon their graduation in 1920, they married. Because of deteriorating conditions in Europe, the couple emigrated to the United States in 1922. Gerty Cori continued her early interest in medical research, collaborating in the laboratory with Carl. She published research findings coauthored with her husband, as well as publishing singly. Unlike her husband, she had difficulty securing research positions, and the ones she obtained provided meager pay. Her husband insisted on continuing their collaboration, though he was discouraged from doing so by the institutions that employed him.

With her husband Carl and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, Gerty Cori received the Nobel Prize in 1947 for the discovery of the mechanism by which glycogen—a derivative of glucose—is broken down in muscle tissue into lactic acid and then resynthesized in the body and stored as a source of energy (known as the Cori cycle). They also identified the important catalyzing compound, the Cori ester. The Coris were the third ever married couple to win the Nobel Prize. In 2004, both Gerty and Carl Cori were designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of their work in clarifying carbohydrate metabolism.In 1957, Gerty Cori died after a ten-year struggle with myelosclerosis. She remained active in the research laboratory until the end of her life. She received recognition for her achievements through multiple awards and honors.

References

  • Gerty Cori
  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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Events on 1896

  • 28Jan

    Speed limit

    Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
  • 26May

    Dow Jones Industrial Average

    Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
  • 16Aug

    Klondike Gold Rush

    Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
  • 21Sep

    Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener

    Mahdist War: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.
  • 22Sep

    George III of the United Kingdom

    Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.

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