Severo Ochoa, XX. Biochemistry of the 20th century

2001/09/01 Astobiza, Amaia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biokimika
• Biografiak

Severo Ochoa de Albornoz was born in the Asturian town of Luarca. Son of Severo Ochoa and Carmen de Albornoz, Severo was the youngest of seven brothers. His father died when his youngest son was seven years old and, from then on, spent the winters in the area of Malaga, attracted by the mild climate.

He studied at the Instituto de Bachillerato in Malaga and his chemistry professor interested him in life sciences. When he finished high school in 1921, Ochoa was clear that he wanted to study experimental biology. At that time, however, the best way to learn biology was to learn medicine. Because of this, and because he greatly admired the doctor and professor of Navarre Santiago Ramón y Cajal, he chose the University of Madrid to study the medical career.

Severo Ochoa.

However, Ochoa did not want to be a doctor. His desire was, above all, to one day become a great scientist. However, Spain did not seem the ideal place for this, since its inhabitants had forgotten the scientific field. Apart from Ramón y Cajal and his students, at the Faculty of Medicine in Madrid there were only two scientists dedicated to the most cutting-edge research: Juan Negrín, professor of physiology and Teofilo Hernando, professor of pharmacology.

However, Ochoa did not have the opportunity to meet Ramón y Cajal who admired so much, but the nature of the teacher and his work were an important reference in the coming years. In 1982, in the epilogue written for a biography of Ramón y Cajal, he wrote the following words: “You have in your hands a biography of the greatest scientist in the history of Spain and of one of the greatest in humanity; in my opinion, as Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Pasteur or Einstein”.

Research and training

In third career, Negrín offered him the possibility of being responsible for the practical classes of the Department of Physiology. That is where Ochoa began the investigation that was not going to have continuity. In the summer of 1927, without finishing his career, he moved to the University of Glasgow to work with Dr. Nöel Paton. Guanidine investigated the influence of superficial melanophores of frogs and with the results obtained managed to publish his first work in a prestigious scientific journal ("Proceedings of the Royal Society"). After his stay in Glasgow, he returned to the laboratory of Negrín and, José G. With his friend Valdecasas he prepared a micromethod to determine muscle creatine. With the results obtained with this invention, he published his second scientific work in 1929.

That year the medical career ended. However, in the following years he worked with great scientists and continued to complete his studies. After finishing the race he moved to Germany to work in the laboratory of Otto Meyerhof (Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1923). There he studied biochemistry and muscle physiology.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal.

In 1931 he married the gijona Carmen García Cobian. That same year he was appointed professor of physiology at the University of Madrid and worked in that work until 1935. However, when they could they moved abroad to work in other laboratories. Thus, in 1932 he moved to London to conduct an enzyme research with Harold Dudley and Henry Dale, Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1936.

He returned to Madrid in 1934. He was first appointed professor of Physiology and Biochemistry and later appointed director of the Department of Physiology of the Institute of Medical Research. In 1936 he was appointed Guest Research Assistant at the Meyerhof Laboratory in Heidelber. His work consisted in studying some enzymatic steps of glycolysis and fermentation. From 1938 to 1941 he studied the biological function of vitamin B1 at the University of Oxford, R. A. Together with Professor Peters.

United States

When World War II broke out, Severo Ochoa was working in Oxford. In order to continue investigating, he decided to go to the United States. These lines come from Ochoa's autobiography: “One day in August 1940, Carmen and I left for the New World, sad but full of hope and hope.” From 1941 to 1942 he worked at the Washington University School of Medicine, together with the marriage Carl and Gery Cori (Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1947), in enzymatic research.

After many years studying, in 1942 he accepted a post from the Department of Medicine at the University of New York and began to investigate on his own. Until his retirement in 1974, his scientific career took place at this university and held various positions. In 1956 he obtained American nationality.

He retired in 1974, but did not stop working. He accepted the invitation of the Hoffmann La Roche laboratories in New Jersey and went to the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. In addition, from 1976 he is in charge of a research team of the Severo Ochoa Center of Molecular Biology of Madrid (CBMSO). In 1986 he returned to Spain where he worked. He died on November 1, 1993, the feast of All Saints, in Madrid.