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DOI: 10.1126/science.1217138, 1511 (2011);334 Science
, et al.Marvin Caruthers2011)−Har Gobind Khorana (1922
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www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 334 16 DECEMBER 2011 1511
PERSPECTIVES
Har Gobind Khorana, the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology’s
(MIT) Alfred P. Sloan Professor
of Biology and Chemistry emeritus, died
on 9 November 2011. One of us (M.C.),
on the first day as a young postdoctoral
fellow, greeted him as “Dr. Khorana.” He
responded, “Everyone calls me Gobind and
so should you.” And so it was for all those
fortunate enough to have worked with him.
As our lifelong friend and mentor, Gobind
taught us how to do good sci-
ence and to enjoy the path it
created for each of us. His
lab worked on projects barely
accessible by the technolo-
gies available at the time. He
always had his thoughts on the
horizon, fi rmly focused on the
next challenge—irrespective
of whether it was synthesiz-
ing coenzyme A, solving the
genetic code, chemically syn-
thesizing genes, or deducing
the mechanism of light trans-
duction by bacteriorhodopsin.
Gobind was a dedicated,
driven, focused, and humble
scientist. He was fi ercely loyal to all whom
he mentored and worked with, and unyield-
ing in his drive toward the highest scientifi c
ideals and goals. He repeatedly attacked
immense and challenging problems, likely
with little idea of how he would eventually
solve them—but solve them he did. Gobind
sent the following from Stockholm during
the Nobel Prize ceremonies, for which he
received the honor in 1968 for Physiology
or Medicine: “Group III: You too can win
Nobel Prizes. Never cease to discover your
potential. Waste no time on your presumed
shortcomings. Do not forget Federation
Abstracts. Merry Christmas.” This sums up
part of Gobind’s philosophy.
Gobind’s trek to Stockholm began in Rai-
pur, India, where he was born and began his
formal education. He often spoke with enor-
mous respect and pride about his father, a
local taxation clerk who insisted that he be
educated and encouraged him, despite a
great shyness and no money, to attend Punjab
University. There, on scholarships, he stud-
ied chemistry and received his bachelor’s
and master’s degrees. Upon graduating, he
obtained a government fellowship to study at
the University of Liverpool, where he earned
a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1948.
Gobind did his postdoctoral work at the
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in
Switzerland with Vladimir Prelog. There
he met Esther, who became
his wife. Esther, who died
in 2001, was the bedrock
foundation upon which
Gobind was able to forge
his life’s work. Often we
were invited to the Khor-
ana home to share a meal
with Esther, Gobind, and
their children, Julia, Emily
(who died in 1979), and
David. Many of his close
friends and colleagues
believe that Gobind’s slow,
steady deterioration in
health and spirit dates from
his loss of Esther.
At the ETH, Gobind rediscovered an
obscure class of reagents—the carbodi-
imides. Upon his return to England in 1950,
he worked in the laboratory of Sir Alexander
Todd, where he found that the carbodiimides
could be used to synthesize biologically rel-
evant pyrophosphates. He then accepted an
invitation to join a new research program
at the University of British Columbia, Van-
couver. There, Gobind used carbodiimides
to initially synthesize the deoxy- and ribo-
triphosphates and coenzyme A for which he
received considerable international recog-
nition. These syntheses provided Gobind an
entré into the use of chemistry to solve bio-
logical problems.
In 1960, Gobind moved to the Institute
for Enzyme Research in Madison, Wiscon-
sin, where he did his Nobel Prize winning
work on elucidating the genetic code. He
was a brilliant strategist and organizer for
blending the research of many postdoctoral
fellows. I (R.W.) and others worked hard
during this time, but it was Gobind’s bril-
liance that “cracked” the problem.
In 1970, only 2 years after receiving
the Nobel Prize, Gobind reported the fi rst
chemical synthesis of a gene [coding for
yeast alanine transfer RNA (tRNA)]. That
year, he moved to MIT, where his laboratory
reported the synthesis, expression, and bio-
logical activity of a suppressor tRNA-encod-
ing gene His work with the genetic code and
gene synthesis demonstrated what could be
done with synthetic DNA and RNA. Today,
biologists and biochemists use these syn-
thetic molecules for site-specifi c mutagen-
esis, sequencing DNA, exponentially ampli-
fying DNA (by polymerase chain reaction),
and many other applications.
Following a Nobel Prize, many scientists
refl ect in the warm glow of their accom-
plishments, but not Gobind. Instead, he
turned his focus toward biological mem-
branes and elucidated the mechanism of
proton transport in light transduction by
bacteriorhodopsin. His most recent work
was with the mammalian visual sensory
system and G protein–coupled receptors.
Gobind trained more than 150 postdoc-
toral fellows and several graduate students.
He was a prodigious contributor to the lit-
erature with more than 450 publications,
and has received numerous honors and
awards, including the Lasker Foundation
Award and the National Medal of Science.
The Khorana group has always been a tight-
knit association of colleagues who interact
easily and enjoy one another’s company. All
of us know the entire group stretching from
those in Vancouver to the present. Start-
ing in Cambridge in 1985, we periodically
have had large group meetings. In addition
to Cambridge, these meetings have been in
places close to Gobind’s scientifi c roots—
Vancouver, Boston, Japan, and Wisconsin,
where the University of Wisconsin intro-
duced a fellowship program focused on
giving young students from India the same
opportunities once provided to Gobind.
Many of the Khorana group have been try-
ing to decide how to best honor Gobind fol-
lowing his death. If we could ask him, we
are sure his answer would be to have another
Khorana Symposium to discuss excellent
science and not waste the moment memo-
rializing him. Perhaps during the coming
year, this is exactly what we will do. The
world has lost a scientifi c giant.
Har Gobind Khorana (1922–2011)
RETROSPECTIVE
Marvin Caruthers 1 and Robert Wells 2
The remarkable work of a Nobel laureate saw
breakthroughs in chemistry, biochemistry,
and genetics.
CR
ED
IT: M
IT N
EW
S O
FF
ICE
10.1126/science.1217138
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. 2Institute of Bio-sciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Cen-ter, Houston, TX 77030, USA. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Published by AAAS
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