Efraim Racker
| Efraim Racker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 28, 1913 Neu Sandez, Poland |
| Died | September 9, 1991 (aged 78) Syracuse, New York |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
| Known for | Identifying and Factor 1 (F1), the first part of the ATP synthase enzyme to be characterised |
| Notable awards | Warren Triennial Prize (1974) National Medal of Science (1976) Gairdner Award (1980) |
Efraim Racker (June 28, 1913 – September 9, 1991) was an Austrian biochemist who was responsible for identifying and purifying Factor 1 (F1), the first part of the ATP synthase enzyme to be characterised. F1 is only a part of a larger ATP synthase complex known as Complex V. It is a peripheral membrane protein attached to component Fo, which is integral to the membrane.
Efraim Racker was born to a Jewish family in 1913 in Neu Sandez, Poland (then Austrian Galicia), but he grew up in Vienna. His elder brother, Heinrich Racker, was to become a famous psychoanalyst. Efraim Racker was studying medicine at the University of Vienna when Hitler invaded in 1938. Racker fled to Great Britain, where he took a job in a mental hospital in Wales. His research focused on the biochemical causes for mental diseases. During the war, Racker was given the opportunity to practice medicine, but he decided to move to the United States to continue his research.
In the U.S., he accepted a position as a research associate in physiology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis from 1941 to 1942. While investigating the biochemical basis for brain diseases, he discovered that the polio virus inhibited glycolysis in the brains of mice. He eventually left his research position for a job as a physician at the Harlem Hospital in New York City. In 1944 he became an associate professor of microbiology at the New York University Medical School, where he continued his work on glycolysis.
In 1952 he accepted a position at Yale Medical School, but left after two years to accept the position of chief of the Nutrition and Physiology Department at the Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York. It was here that Racker demonstrated that glycolysis was dependent on ATPase and the continuous regeneration of ADP and phosphate. Maynard E. Pullam joined Racker's staff in 1953, and decided to uncover the mechanism of ATP synthesis in and chloroplasts. Joined by Anima Datta and Harvey S. Penefsky, they set out to identify the enzymes used in ATP synthesis.
...
Wikipedia