[bioundgrd] Har Gobind Khorana: Why Google honours him today | India News

Wed Jan 10 09:21:43 EST 2018

Hello Biology Community,

We are passing along the following article in case you didn’t see it yesterday on google.

Rebecca Chamberlain

> 
> https://www.google.com/doodles/har-gobind-khoranas-96th-birthday <https://www.google.com/doodles/har-gobind-khoranas-96th-birthday>
> 
> Har Gobind Khorana’s 96th Birthday
> 
> Today’s Doodle celebrates Har Gobind Khorana, an Indian-American biochemist whose passion for science started under a tree in the small village of Raipur, India, and grew into Nobel Prize-winning research on nucleotides and genes.
> 
> Dr. Khorana was born in 1922 as the youngest of five children. His father instilled the importance of learning by helping his children to read and write, which wasn’t common for villagers at the time. Scholarships helped propel the budding scientist through his scholastic journey, obtaining his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1948.
> 
> Dr. Khorana conducted research at universities in England, Switzerland, and Canada, and it was at the University of Wisconsin that he and two fellow researchers received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968. Together, they discovered that the order of nucleotides in our DNA determines which amino acids are built. These amino acids form proteins, which carry out essential cell functions.
> 
> His accomplishments didn’t stop there. Fewer than five years later, Dr. Khorana made a second scientific breakthrough when he constructed the first synthetic gene. He received a host of awards during his lifetime, including the National Medal of Science.
> 
> Bangalore-based illustrator Rohan Dahotre <https://www.behance.net/RohanSharadDahotre> drew today’s Doodle, which celebrates Dr. Khorana’s pioneering work in understanding our DNA.
> 
> Happy Birthday, Dr. Khorana!
> 
> Early drafts of the Doodle below:
> 
> 
> 
> 

> 
> http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/har-gobind-khorana-google-honours-today-180108134719847.html <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/har-gobind-khorana-google-honours-today-180108134719847.html>
> 
> Har Gobind Khorana: Why Google honours him today
> 
> Hailed for constructing the first synthetic gene, Har Gobind Khorana would have been 96 on January 9.
> 
> 7 hours ago
> 
> Dr Har Gobind Khorana of the University of Wisconsin research team, speaks to scientists at a meeting in Madison, June 2, 1970. (AP Photo/Paul Shane) [Daylife]
> Hailed for constructing the first synthetic gene, Nobel Prize winner Har Gobind Khorana would have been 96 on Tuesday, January 9 - that's the date of birth in his documents, although the exact date remains uncertain.
> 
> In the Indian-American scientist's honour, Google is changing its logo in 13 countries to a doodle - or illustration - of him and his DNA work.
> 
> This is his story:
> 
> Village origin
> 
> Khorana was born in a small village of about 100 residents in Raipur. He was a member of practically the only literate family in his village - Khorana's father taught his five children to read and write. 
> 
> Having advanced his education through scholarships, Khorana received his Bachelor's degree in 1943, and his Master's in 1945 at the Punjab University in Lahore.
> 
> In 1948, he completed his PhD after being awarded a scholarship by the Indian government to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Liverpool in the UK. 
> 
> He then went to the Swiss city of Zurich to work with Professor Vladimir Prelog for one year. In Khorana's biography, Prelog is credited for moulding "immeasurably his thought and philosophy towards science, work, and effort". 
> 
> Married to Swiss Esther Elizabeth Sibler, Khorana's biography praised Sibler for bringing a "consistent sense of purpose ... at a time when [Har] Khorana felt out of place everywhere and at home nowhere".
> Freedom
> 
> A job offer in 1952 took Khorana to the University of British Columbia in Canada, where he initiated his Nobel Prize-winning work. During his time there he was offered "all the freedom in the world" to do his own research, according to Gordon M Shrum, a Canadian scientist in British Columbia.   
> 
> At the University of British Columbia, Khorana and a group of scientists began to work in the field of biology. Khorana was an expert on the chemical synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids. 
> 
> In 1960, he moved to the US, where started working at the University of Wisconsin. He was granted American citizenship in 1966. 
> 
> Two years later,  Khorana, Robert W Holley and Marshall W Nirenberg were awarded jointly the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine "for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis".
> 
> But this was not his only accolade. In 1972, Khorana was also recognised for the construction of the first artificial gene, while four years later he announced that he had gotten an artificial gene to function within a bacterial cell.   
> 
> Among his several recognitions, Khorana also received the Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the National Medal of Science.
> 
> Khorana died on November 9, 2011. His death was announced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a professor emeritus. He was survived by his children, Julia and Dave.
> You [Har] can have all the freedom to do what you want, but we don't have much in terms of facilities.
> Gordon Shrum, Council director at the British Columbia Research Council
> 

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