Gertrude B. Elion was a farmacóloga and biochemistry american that you received in 1988 the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for their discoveries of key principles on the development and treatment of drugs.” In fact, you could say that, thanks to his work in the laboratory, saved millions of lives.
the Daughter of jewish emigrants, Gertrude B. Elion was born in a poor neighborhood of New York city in 1918. As happened to many other friends, the fact of being a woman, we closed a number of doors in your career. That never discouraged her, because it was always constant in their learning. Despite their important work in the development of treatments for diseases as widespread as leukemia, gout, or malaria, his name has not history with the same force that some of his colleagues.
despite their important work in the development of treatments for diseases as widespread as leukemia, gout, or malaria, his name has not history with the same force that some of his colleagues
Their concerns began when I was fifteen years old. Specifically when his grandfather died of a stomach cancer. A great loss, because both had a relationship closer. Since childhood instilled in him the love for knowledge, and encourage him to be curious and learn all that which was unfamiliar. That fateful day in the who had to say goodbye to him, promised himself that he would dedicate his life to science in order to, someday, find a cure against this terrible disease.
he Kept his purpose when it came time to go to college, something unusual for women at the time. But his tenacity led him far and your goals much more. he Studied Chemistry in the Hunter College , center on the one that came with less age than usual. However, her intelligence and her excellent grades allowed him to pass the entrance examinations.
After the death of his grandfather, he promised himself that he would dedicate his life to science with the aim of, someday, finding a cure for cancer
Got to take the bachelor’s degree for free thanks to their impeccable academic record . Something especially remarkable, because at that time many families have suffered the scourge of the crisis of 1929. His effort allowed it to complete their higher studies. However, finding a job was not easy. Not only by the crisis that prevailed, but by the mere fact of being a woman. In a job interview, they came to recognize that the rejected for fear of distracting the attention of the workers which, of course, were all men.
Finally, he found a position as assistant to the laboratory, which enabled him to afford a master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of New York in order to advance in their profession. She was the only woman that he was in. A few studies that complemented each other, in addition to the lab, with a part-time job as a receptionist in a doctor’s office, and working as a physics and chemistry teacher in the afternoons. The nights and weekends devoted to study.
she Was the only woman in a masters of Chemistry at the University of New York
When his university period came to an end, another tragedy stalked the life of Elion. Your fiance fell seriously ill with a bacterial endocarditis and ended up dying. It was the second death of a loved one that, obviously, will also marked. To treat that sadness does not invade, focused more if it fits in the science. His goal had always been the same: to find a treatment for those diseases that had taken their loved ones
it Was during the Second World War when he started to take jobs as a scientist as such, and not only as an assistant or a teacher. Many of the men who were in charge of the major labs were at the front, so that, for the first time, many women gained access to positions hitherto inaccessible. Elion was one of them, then got a job as a analytical chemistry in the food industry. His impeccable work he did as the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson to be placed in it and offered him a research position.
When he finished his studies, another death stalked his life: that of her fiance. Decided with more force than ever followed in the field of research
But it was in Burroughs Wellcome, the current GlaxoSmithKline, where he became a prominent character in the scientific world. Agreed to by the pharmaceutical after the head of the Betticket laboratory, George Hitchings , became impressed by his intelligence after an interview. He started as an assistant, but in a matter of a few months became a partner of exceptional and totally essential. Elion and Hitchings formed a great tandem, and marked a turning point in the development of medicines, by creating effective drugs and safe, effective against leukemia, gout, urinary tract infections, malaria, herpes, viral and various autoimmune diseases,
as Well as developed what is known as the theory of antimetabolites, in that they used the biochemical differences between normal human cells and pathogens (disease causing agents) to design drugs that could kill or inhibit the reproduction of pathogens particular without damaging the host cells.
So it was that in 1950 would the primetamina , a treatment successful in the treatment of malaria. The list of drugs that soon began to grow with the trimethoprim and the azathioprine . With this last, they were able to demonstrate its efficacy as an immunosuppressive agent in patients receiving transplants. The life of Gertrude is an example for thousands of women around the world. She used to repeat: “Nothing in life comes easily, so we should not be afraid to work hard”. With its perseverance and effort achieved effective treatments for millions of patients around the world.
