Mildred Cohn (July 12, 1913 – October 12, 2009)
was an American
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
who furthered understanding of
biochemical processes through her study of
chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemistry, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. When chemical reactions occur, the atoms are rearranged and the reaction is accompanied by an Gibbs free energy, ...
s within animal
cells. She was a pioneer in the use of
nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...
for studying
enzyme reactions, particularly reactions of
adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleoside triphosphate that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cell (biology), cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known ...
(ATP).
She received the nation's highest science award, the
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...
, in 1982,
and was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame.
Early life
Cohn's parents, childhood sweethearts Isidore Cohn and Bertha Klein Cohn,
were
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. Her father was a
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
. They left
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
for the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
around 1907. Mildred Cohn was born July 12, 1913, in
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, where her family lived in an apartment. When Mildred was 13, her father moved the family to a
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
-speaking cooperative, ''Heim Gesellschaft'', which strongly emphasized education, the arts,
social justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
, and the preservation of Yiddish culture.
Mildred Cohn, Ph.D.: The Science of Fearlessness
', Video, 18 min 43 sec, Science History Institute
The Science History Institute is an institution that preserves and promotes understanding of the history of science. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it includes a library, museum, archive, research center and conference center.
It was ...
, Philadelphia, PA
Education
Cohn graduated from high school at 14.
She went on to attend
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
, which was both free and open to all qualified women, irrespective of race, religion or ethnic background.
She received her Bachelor's cum laude in 1931.
She managed to afford a single year at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, but was ineligible for an assistantship because she was a woman.
After receiving her
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in 1932, she worked for the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...
for two years.
Although she had a supportive supervisor, she was the only woman among 70 men, and was informed that she would never be promoted.
She subsequently returned to Columbia, studying under
Harold Urey
Harold Clayton Urey ( ; April 29, 1893 – January 5, 1981) was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 for the discovery of deuterium. He played a significant role in the ...
, who had just won the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
.
Originally, Cohn was working to study the different
isotopes of carbon
Carbon (6C) has 14 known isotopes, from to as well as , of which only and are stable. The longest-lived radioisotope is , with a half-life of years. This is also the only carbon radioisotope found in nature, as trace quantities are formed ...
. However, her equipment failed her, and she could not finish this project. She went on to write her dissertation on
oxygen isotopes and earned her
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in
physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...
in 1938.
Career
With Urey's recommendation, Cohn was able to obtain a position as a research associate in the laboratory of
Vincent du Vigneaud at
the George Washington University Medical School in Washington, D.C.. There Cohn conducted post-doctoral studies on
sulfur amino acid metabolism using radioactive sulfur isotopes. Cohn pioneered the use of isotopic tracers to examine the metabolism of sulfur-containing compounds.
When du Vigneaud moved his laboratory to
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
Medical College in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Cohn and her new husband, physicist
Henry Primakoff, moved to New York as well.
In 1946,
Henry Primakoff was offered a faculty appointment at
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine shares a ca ...
. Cohn was able to obtain a research position with
Carl and
Gerty Cori
Gerty Theresa Cori (; August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957) was a Bohemian-Austrian and American biochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Me ...
in their biochemistry laboratory in the university's school of medicine.
There, she was able to choose her own research topics. She used nuclear magnetic resonance to investigate the reaction of
phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...
with ATP, revealing considerable information about the biochemistry of ATP,
including the structure of ATP,
oxidative phosphorylation
Oxidative phosphorylation(UK , US : or electron transport-linked phosphorylation or terminal oxidation, is the metabolic pathway in which Cell (biology), cells use enzymes to Redox, oxidize nutrients, thereby releasing chemical energy in order ...
and role of
divalent
In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an atom is a measure of its combining capacity with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. Valence is generally understood to be the number of chemica ...
ions in the
enzymatic conversion of ATP and
ADP.
When asked in later life about her most exciting moments in science, Cohn replied: "In 1958, using nuclear magnetic resonance, I saw the first three peaks of ATP. That was exciting.
coulddistinguish the three phosphorus atoms of ATP with a spectroscopic method, which had never been done before."
Using a stable isotope of
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
, Cohn discovered how
phosphorylation
In biochemistry, phosphorylation is described as the "transfer of a phosphate group" from a donor to an acceptor. A common phosphorylating agent (phosphate donor) is ATP and a common family of acceptor are alcohols:
:
This equation can be writ ...
and water are part of the
electron transport system of the metabolic pathway oxidative phosphorylation, the ubiquitous process used by all
aerobic organisms to generate energy, in the form of ATP, from nutrients. She elucidated how the
divalent
In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an atom is a measure of its combining capacity with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. Valence is generally understood to be the number of chemica ...
metal ions are involved in the enzymatic reactions of ADP and ATP by studying NMR spectra of the phosphorus
nuclei and the structural change in the presence of various divalent ions.
[
In 1958, she was promoted from research associate to associate professor.] In 1960, Cohn and her husband joined the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. Mildred was appointed as an associate professor of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry, and became a full professor the following year. In 1964, she became the first woman to receive the American Heart Association's Lifetime Career Award, providing support until she reached age sixty-five. In 1971, she 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 ...
. She was elected to the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
the following year. In 1982, she retired from the faculty as the Benjamin Rush Professor Emerita of Physiological Chemistry. In 1984, Cohn received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
.
In the course of her career, Mildren Cohn worked with four Nobel laureates, who received three Nobel prizes:
*Harold Urey
Harold Clayton Urey ( ; April 29, 1893 – January 5, 1981) was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 for the discovery of deuterium. He played a significant role in the ...
, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1934
* Carl and Gerty Cori
Gerty Theresa Cori (; August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957) was a Bohemian-Austrian and American biochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Me ...
, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1947
* Vincent du Vigneaud, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1955
Achievements
Cohn wrote 160 papers, mostly on her primary research subject of using nuclear magnetic resonance to study ATP. She received a number of honorary doctorates.
She won the American Chemical Society's Garvan-Olin Medal in 1963. In 1968, she was elected a Fellow of 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 ...
. She was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal
The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848. Th ...
in 1975, for her work on nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of enzymatic complexes. She received the International Organization of Women Biochemists Award in 1979. She received Columbia University's Chandler Medal in 1986.
She was presented with the National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...
by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 for 'pioneering the use of stable isotopic tracers and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the study of the mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis'.
During her career, Cohn achieved several gender firsts: She was the first woman to be appointed to the editorial board of the ''Journal of Biological Chemistry
The ''Journal of Biological Chemistry'' (''JBC'') is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905., jbc.org Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research i ...
'', where she served as editor from 1958–63 and from 1968–73. She was also the first woman to become president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906, at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel (Johns Hopkins University). The roots of the society were in the American Ph ...
, then called the American Society of Biological Chemists (serving as such from 1978 to 1979), and the first woman career investigator for the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...
. In 2009, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.
Marriage
Mildred Cohn was married to physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
Henry Primakoff from 1938 until his death in 1983. They had three children, all of whom earned doctorates. Mildren Cohn is quoted in Elga Wasserman's book, ''The Door in the Dream: Conversations With Eminent Women in Science'', as saying “My greatest piece of luck was marrying Henry Primakoff, an excellent scientist who treated me as an intellectual equal and always assumed that I should pursue a scientific career and behaved accordingly.”
Partial bibliography
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Further reading
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*
References
External links
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*
Mildred Cohn, Ph.D.: The Science of Fearlessness
', Video, 18 min 43 sec, Science History Institute
The Science History Institute is an institution that preserves and promotes understanding of the history of science. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it includes a library, museum, archive, research center and conference center.
It was ...
, Philadelphia, PA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Mildred
1913 births
2009 deaths
Hunter College alumni
American women biochemists
Jewish American scientists
National Medal of Science laureates
Columbia University alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Recipients of the Garvan–Olin Medal
Jewish chemists
University of Pennsylvania faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
20th-century American women scientists
20th-century American chemists
American women academics
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Washington University in St. Louis fellows
Washington University School of Medicine faculty