Andrew Alm Benson (September 24, 1917 – January 16, 2015) was an American biologist and a professor of biology at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
, until his retirement in 1989. He is known for his work in understanding the
carbon cycle
The carbon cycle is a part of the biogeochemical cycle where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycl ...
in plants.
Early life and education
Benson was born on September 24, 1917, in
Modesto
Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California.
Modesto is locate ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, the son of a rural physician of Swedish immigrant stock.
[.]
He studied as an undergraduate and masters student at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, where he learned optics from
Luis Alvarez and worked in the chemistry lab of
Glenn T. Seaborg.
In 1942, he received his Ph.D. from the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
;
[.] at Caltech, he worked under the supervision of
Carl Niemann, conducting experiments on the
fluorination
In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction which introduces one or more halogens into a chemical compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transformation important, e.g. in the production of polymers, drugs. ...
of
thyroxine
Thyroxine, also known as T4, is a hormone produced by the thyroid gland. It is the primary form of thyroid hormone found in the blood and acts as a prohormone of the more active thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroxine and its acti ...
; his later thesis work concerned "
periodate
Periodate ( ) is an anion composed of iodine and oxygen. It is one of a number of oxyanions of iodine and is the highest in the series, with iodine existing in oxidation state +7. Unlike other perhalogenates, such as perchlorate, it can exist in ...
and
lead tetraacetate degradation of its
vicinal amino glycol".
At that time he also became a
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...
to the
war in Europe, a political position that caused difficulties for him when he moved back to Berkeley following his graduation.
Post-graduate career
Benson returned to Berkeley as an instructor in July 1942.
In May 1946 he was invited to join the group of
Melvin Calvin, who was then starting a
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...
group in Berkeley's Old Radiation Laboratory, a building that had previously housed a 37-inch
cyclotron
A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Januar ...
built in 1937 by
Ernest Lawrence
Ernest Orlando Lawrence (August 8, 1901 – August 27, 1958) was an American accelerator physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. He is known for his work on uranium-isotope separation for ...
. He visited
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
from 1951 to 1952 on a
Fulbright fellowship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
to the
Norwegian College of Agriculture, and took a faculty position at
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
in 1954.
He moved to
UCSD
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...
from a previous position at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
, in 1962.
Research
In work done from 1946 through 1953, along with
Melvin Calvin and
James Bassham, Benson elucidated the path of carbon assimilation (the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle) in plants. The carbon reduction cycle is known as the
Calvin cycle
The Calvin cycle, light-independent reactions, bio synthetic phase, dark reactions, or photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle of photosynthesis is a series of chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen-carrier compounds into ...
, which inappropriately ignores the contribution of Bassham and Benson. Many scientists refer to the cycle as the Calvin–Benson Cycle, Benson–Calvin, and some call it the Calvin–Benson–Bassham (or CBB) Cycle.
In a paper in the 2002 ''
Annual Review of Plant Biology
''Annual Review of Plant Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews. It was first published in 1950 as the ''Annual Review of Plant Physiology''. Sabeeha Merchant has been the editor since 2005, making her the lo ...
'', Benson provided an in-depth retrospective on his life and work.
Awards and honors
Benson was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
in 1972, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1981,
and the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway.
History
The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...
in 1984.
In 1962, the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...
gave him the
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for his work using
radioactive isotope
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...
s to understand the carbon cycle. He also received the Sugar Research Foundation Award in 1950 and the
Stephen Hales
Stephen Hales (17 September 16774 January 1761) was an English clergyman who made major contributions to a range of scientific fields including botany, pneumatic chemistry and physiology. He was the first person to measure blood pressure. He al ...
Prize of the
American Society of Plant Biologists
The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is a non-profit professional society for research and education in plant science with over 4,000 members world-wide. It was founded in 1924, as the American Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP). T ...
in 1972 for his discovery of
ribulose as a product of the carbon cycle. In 2007, a special issue of ''Photosynthesis Research'' was dedicated to him in honor of his 90th birthday.
A Tribute to Andrew A. Benson
''Photosynthesis Research'' Volume 92, Number 2, May 2007.
Benson is a major figure (at Calvin's expense) in episode 2, dealing with photosynthesis
Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...
, of the history of botany
The history of botany examines the human effort to understand life on Earth by tracing the historical development of the discipline of botany—that part of natural science dealing with organisms traditionally treated as plants.
Rudimentary ...
presented in 2011 on BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 . The series is presented by Timothy Walker and is entitled '' Botany—A Blooming History''.
References
External links
Bob B. Buchanan, Roland Douce, Govindjee, Hartmut K. Lichtenthaler, and Roger E. Summons, "Andrew A. Benson", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Andrew
1917 births
2015 deaths
University of California, Berkeley alumni
California Institute of Technology alumni
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
University of California, San Diego faculty
American people of Swedish descent
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
American biologists
Scientists from California
Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology