Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin: biography and contributions of this chemist.

A summary of the life of Dorothy Hodgkin, a chemist whose work won her a Nobel Prize.

Dorothy Crowfoot was a British chemist known for studying various three-dimensional biochemical structures using the technique of X-ray crystallography.

Given all the discoveries and contributions she made during most of her life, in 1964 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, being the fifth woman and the first British woman to win this prize in the field of science. Her research never ceased despite the physical affectations derived from the rheumatoid Arthritis disease she suffered, and despite being the mother of three children.

In this biography of Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin we will mention the most relevant events in the life of this chemist, and we will see which were her most relevant contributions to the field of science, specifically to biochemistry.

Brief biography of Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin was born on May 12, 1910 in Cairo, capital of Egypt, when it belonged to the British Empire.She was born in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, when it belonged to the British Empire, but soon after moved to London where she spent her childhood. Daughter of John Winter Crowfoot and Grace Crowfoot, both British archaeologists, she was interested in science from a very young age, when she was only 10 years old she entertained herself doing simple experiments at home and reading various works of scientific literature.

Youth and university years

In 1921, at the age of 11, she was enrolled as a pupil at Sir John Leman's Primary School in the town of Beccles in England, where she studied chemistry, being the only one with another girl to do so. At the age of 18, she entered Somerville College, which is part of Oxford University, to continue her training in Chemistry, graduating with honors in 1919.graduating with honors in 1932, the third woman to do so.

After graduating, she set out to choose the subject she would select for her doctorate at Newnham College, which only accepted women at the University of Cambridge. So it was that she decided, influenced by the conference at Newnham College, to pursue her Ph. influenced by the lecture given by John D. Bernal, she decided to study X-ray crystallography, used to study the structures of proteins.used to study the structures of proteins. John D. Bernal himself was her doctoral tutor and took her into his laboratory.

Bernal, who was an Irish scientist, apart from influencing Crowfoot in the field of science, also influenced him politically; he was a member of the Communist Party and a supporter of the Soviet regime. Dorothy considered him and referred to him as a wise and intelligent man, they even had a love affair before she married.

Thus, he made use of the crystallography of the Soviet used X-ray crystallography to analyze the biological substance pepsinpepsin, a protein synthesized by the stomach that is responsible for digestion by hydrolyzing proteins. He was finally awarded his doctorate in 1937 for his research and thesis on X-ray crystallography and the chemistry of sterols, a type of steroid.

Outside the professional field, in 1934, at the age of 24, she was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis.The disease, which caused swelling of the joints of his hands and feet, causing him great pain and even deformed his limbs over the years.

Despite the difficulties and discomfort caused by the disease, she did not want to change anything in her work and continued with the same pace of research.

Consolidation of her career as a researcher

After presenting her doctoral thesis, she returned to the University of Oxford, where she was appointed in 1936 as the first researcher and professor in Chemistry, remaining at the University for the rest of her life.

In 1937 she married Thomas Hodgkin, a historian and member of the Communist Party who wrote about politics and the history of Africa.She became a professor at Balliol College, Oxford. But despite her marriage she was reluctant to change her maiden name, and it was not until 12 years after her marriage when she decided, influenced by her secretary, to sign with her husband's surname, becoming known from then on as Dorothy Crowfoort Hodgkin.

Thomas Hodgkins was the father of her three children: Luke, the eldest who was born in 1938; Elisabeth, her only daughter, who was born in 1941; and the youngest, Toby, born in 1946. During the period of her pregnancies, her afflictions and discomfort from rheumatoid arthritis diminished, and just as the disease did not cause her to leave the field of scientific research, neither would motherhood. She believed that continuing her scientific career was the natural thing to do and therefore never considered giving it up.

In 1947 she had the privilege of being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.Dorothy was the third woman to become a member of the society, the oldest scientific society in the United Kingdom and one of the oldest in Europe. Thirteen years later, in 1960, she was appointed Research Professor of the Royal Society at Wolfson, a position she held until 1970.

Main contributions to science

Crowfoot focused his research and his work on discovering and studying discovering and studying various three-dimensional biochemical structures that until then organic chemistry had not been able to determine..

In 1937 he worked with cholesterol, a lipid that has a structural function in the plasma membrane. Subsequently, in 1945 he focused on the study of penicillin with the help of collaborators and with the use of the first computers.Thus, with the increased knowledge of this antibiotic, they were able to create it semi-synthetically and thus prevent the death of many people from infection.

After World War II, Crowfoot's laboratory increased in popularity due to the intellectual and personal capabilities of the chemist. She thus attracted the attention of many women, most notably Margaret Thatcher, who would become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

In 1953 she had the good fortune to see the well-known and important double helix model of the three-dimensional structure of DNA, which was located in Cambridge and which was discovered and proposed by the physicist, molecular biologist and neuroscientist Francis Crick.

Given his research with penicillin, he had relationships with professionals in the pharmaceutical industry. Thus, thanks to his contacts was able to obtain crystals of vitamin b12, a vitamin essential for the proper functioning of the brain, nervous system and the formation of blood and various proteins.. Dorothy observed that the molecule was formed by cobalt, she saw the possibility of using X-ray crystallography to better understand its structure.

Despite the difficulties involved in this research, since the vitamin b12 molecule is large and there was little information about it, in 1955 she managed to publish the structure after many years of study. For this reason his work received much recognition, being valued as the greatest achievement achieved by means of X-rays in the field of natural chemical products and earning him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1955. winning her the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making her the fifth woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964.She was the fifth woman and the first British woman to receive this prize in the field of science.

Another important research and work in Crowfoot's career was that of the insulin hormone, very important for the body to obtain energy, as it is the only one that allows glucose to enter cells.insulin, very important for the body to obtain energy, since it is the only one that allows glucose to enter the cells. The study of this hormone began in 1934, but it was not until 1969 that they managed to discover the structure of this complex and large molecule.

Despite her complicated health situation, she did not stop researching until 1977, when she decided to retire from the field of research to devote herself to traveling, lecturing and participating in debates on world peace.

As mentioned above, Dorothy was in close contact with followers of communism, such as her husband and her doctoral tutor. She was thus greatly influenced by this political trend, although she never considered herself a communist. She did was very concerned about social inequalities and the possibility of nuclear war.For this reason, in 1976 she was appointed president of the Pugwash Conference, which lectures on science and world affairs.

Likewise, given her involvement in the humanitarian field, taking a stand against war, she received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1987 from the Soviet government.

Final years and death

In addition to the aforementioned awards, she also received the Copley Medal received the Copley Medal, awarded by the Royal Society in recognition of scientific work and important achievements in this field, or the Lomonosov Medal awarded by the Soviet Academy of Sciences. It is also worth mentioning that the Royal Society of London named one of its fellowships for outstanding young scientists after him.

After suffering for a long period of time from the disease rheumatoid arthritis, affecting her joints and ending up in a wheelchair, Dorothy Crowfoort died on June 29, 1994 at the age of 84 in Ilmington, England, as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Since 1999, the Oxford International Festival has held an annual conference in honor of Dorothy's work and research.