- James B. Sumner
Infobox_Scientist
name = James B. Sumner
image_width = | image_size = 180px
caption = James B. Sumner
birth_date = birth date|1887|11|19
birth_place =Canton, Massachusetts , USA
death_date = death date and age|1955|8|12|1887|11|19
death_place =Buffalo, New York , USA
nationality =United States
field =Chemistry
alma_mater =Harvard University
doctoral_advisor =Otto Folin
doctoral_students =
work_institution =Cornell University
known_for = First to isolate anenzyme incrystal lized formFirst to show that an enzyme is aprotein
prizes =Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1946)James Batcheller Sumner (
November 19 ,1887 –August 12 ,1955 ) was an Americanchemist . He shared theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946 withJohn Howard Northrop andWendell Meredith Stanley .Biography
Sumner graduated from
Harvard University with abachelor's degree in 1910 where he was acquainted with prominent chemistsRoger Adams ,Farrington Daniels ,Frank C. Whitmore ,James Bryant Conant andCharles Loring Jackson . In 1912, he went to studybiochemistry inHarvard Medical School and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1914 withOtto Folin . He then worked as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the Weill Medical College ofCornell University .Research
It was at Cornell where Sumner began his research into isolating
enzyme s in pure form; a feat which had never been achieved before. The enzyme he worked with wasurease .Sumner's work was unsuccessful for many years and many of his colleagues were doubtful, believing that what he was trying to achieve was impossible, but in 1926 he demonstrated that urease could be isolated andcrystal lized. He was also able to show by chemical tests that his pure urease was aprotein . This was the first experimental proof that an enzyme was a protein, a controversial question at the time.His successful research brought him to full professorship at Cornell in 1929. In 1937 he succeeded in isolating and crystallizing a second enzyme,
catalase . By this time,John Howard Northrop of theRockefeller Institute had obtained other crystalline enzymes by similar methods, starting withpepsin in 1929. It had become clear that Sumner had devised a general crystallization method for enzymes, and also that all enzymes are proteins.Honours and awards
In 1937, he was given a
Guggenheim Fellowship and he spent five months inSweden working with ProfessorTheodor Svedberg . Also that year, he was awarded theScheele Medal inStockholm .Both Sumner and Northrop shared the
Nobel Prize in 1946 for crystallization of enzymes. Sumner was elected to theNational Academy of Science in 1948. Sumner died aged 67 of cancer on August 12 1955.Notes
While hunting at age 17, Sumner was accidentally shot by a companion and as a result his left arm had to be amputated just below the elbow. He had been left-handed before the accident, after which he had to learn to do things with his right hand.
References
*cite journal | title=Prof. James B. Sumner | author=ALEXANDER L. DOUNCE | journal=Redox Report | volume=176 | issue=4488 | pages=859 | year=1955 | doi=10.1038/176859a0
*cite journal | title=Sumner, James B. (1887-1955) | journal=Biographical Memoirs / National Academy of Sciences | volume=31External links
* Sumner's [http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/1946/sumner-bio.html Nobel Foundation biography]
* Sumner's Nobel Lecture [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1946/sumner-lecture.html The Chemical Nature of Enzymes]
* Sumner's [http://uk.geocities.com/hertouyt/cgi-bin/sumner-speech.html Speech at the Nobel banquet]
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