Nathan Oram Kaplan (June 25, 1917 – April 15, 1986) 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 studied

enzymology An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

Biography

After completing a B.A. in chemistry at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 1939, Kaplan studied

carbohydrate metabolism Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemistry, biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic anabolism, formation, catabolism, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in life, living organisms. Carbohydrates are central t ...

in the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

under David M. Greenberg 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 ...

medical school. He earned his Ph.D. in 1943. From 1942 to 1944, Kaplan participated in the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

, and then spent a year as an instructor at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

. From 1945 to 1949, Kaplan worked with Fritz Lipmann, G. David Novelli, and Beverly Guirard to study

coenzyme A Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the Fatty acid metabolism#Synthesis, synthesis and Fatty acid metabolism#.CE.B2-Oxidation, oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvic acid, pyruvate in the citric ac ...

. Kaplan went to the

University of Illinois College of Medicine The University of Illinois College of Medicine offers a four-year program leading to the MD degree at four different sites in Illinois: Chicago, Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, and formerly Champaign–Urbana metropolitan ...

as an assistant professor in 1949, and from 1950 to 1957 he worked at the McCollum-Pratt Institute of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. In 1957, he was recruited to head a new graduate program in biochemistry at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. In 1968, Kaplan moved to 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 ...

, where he studied the role of

lactate dehydrogenase Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH or LD) is an enzyme found in nearly all living cells. LDH catalyzes the conversion of pyruvic acid, pyruvate to lactic acid, lactate and back, as it converts NAD+ to NADH and back. A dehydrogenase is an enzyme that t ...

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. He also founded a colony of nude mice, a strain of laboratory mice useful in the study of cancer and other diseases.Biography
Nathan O. Kaplan Papers finding aid, Online Archive of California. The Regents of the University of California, 2005. Accessed 6 March 2009. In 1981, Kaplan became a founding member of the World Cultural Council. Kaplan was, with Sidney Colowick, a founding editor of the scientific book series '' Methods in Enzymology''. One of his students at the University of California was genomic researcher Craig Venter.Venter, J. Craig (October 18, 2007). A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life. New York, New York: Viking Adult. .OCLC 165048736

Notes and references

External links

Nathan O. Kaplan Papers
MSS 99
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library.
Nathan O. Kaplan, PhD: 1976 Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research
- an account of Kaplan's work for which he was recognized in 1976 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Nathan O. 1917 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American biochemists University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Wayne State University faculty Massachusetts General Hospital people University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Brandeis University faculty Founding members of the World Cultural Council