What did Gertrude Belle Elion discover?

During the 1950s, Gertrude Elion, together with George Hitchings, developed a systematic method for producing drugs based on knowledge of biochemistry and diseases. One of the first drugs produced by the pair was for leukemia and helped many children with the disease to survive.

When did Gertrude B Elion discover?

1950
Elion’s first major discovery, in 1950, when she was 32, was a purine compound that interfered with the formation of leukaemia cells: 6-mercaptopurine, 6-MP for short.

What are 3 interesting facts about Gertrude Elion?

Six facts about Gertrude Elion, a legend in drug discovery

  • Her grandfather’s death inspired her to become a scientist.
  • She struggled finding research jobs.
  • She never completed her PhD.
  • She was entirely dedicated to her work.
  • She discovered an effective chemotherapy for leukemia.

Why did Gertrude Elion never received her PhD?

She pursued graduate studies at night school at New York University Tandon School of Engineering (then Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute), but after several years of long-range commuting, she was informed that she would no longer be able to continue her doctorate on a part-time basis, but would need to give up her job and …

What was Gertrude Elion most known for?

American biochemist and pharmacologist Gertrude B. Elion helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection. She won a Nobel Prize for medicine in 1988.

What is Gertrude’s most known for?

American pharmacologist and biochemist, Gertrude B. Elion is famous for her scientific discovery of drugs to treat leukemia and herpes and drugs to prevent the rejection of kidney transplants.

What type of scientist was Gertrude Elion?

pharmacologist
American biochemist and pharmacologist Gertrude B. Elion helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection. She won a Nobel Prize for medicine in 1988.

What is Gertrude B. Elion most famous for?

What was Gertrude known for?

American pharmacologist and biochemist, Gertrude B. Elion is famous for her scientific discovery of drugs to treat leukemia and herpes and drugs to prevent the rejection of kidney transplants. This discovery earned her Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 which she shared with George H.

How did Gertrude B Elion impact the world?

Elion had an impressive career, during which she helped develop drugs to treat many major diseases, including malaria and AIDS. She won a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988.

What drugs did Gertrude B Elion discover?

In addition to 6-MP, Elion went on to discover a series of drugs that attack the life cycle of nucleic acid, including allopurinol—which inhibits uric acid synthesis, making it a viable treatment for gout—and azathioprine (Imuran), an effective immunosuppressive drug.

What drugs did Gertrude B. Elion discover?

Who is Gertrude Belle Elion?

Gertrude Belle Elion was born on January 23, 1918, in New York City, United States, to Bertha (Cohen) and Robert Elion. Her father was a dentist and she had one brother. A bright and curious girl, she had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and loved all the subjects in school.

How did Gertrude Elion help fight disease?

With the curiosity of a scientist and the personal motivation of having lost family members to cancer and bacterial infection, Elion fulfilled a vital role in the fight against disease. Elion at work in the lab, 1980s. Gertrude Belle Elion (1918–1999) was a teenager when her grandfather died of stomach cancer in 1933.

When did Gertrude Elion win the Nobel Prize?

She won a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988. Gertrude Elion died on February 21, 1999, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Born to immigrant parents in New York City, Gertrude Elion spent her early youth in Manhattan, where her father had a dental practice. When her brother was born, the family moved to the Bronx.

When did elionel go to college?

In 1937, just after she completed her chemistry studies at Hunter College in New York, Elion lost her fiancé to a bacterial infection, and her passion for finding cures for illness was redoubled. Elion entered New York University’s graduate chemistry program in 1939.