Charles Kurland

Charles Kurland
Born	Charles Gabriel Kurland (1936-01-14) 14 January 1936 (age 89)
Citizenship	American and Swedish
Education	Harvard
Known for	Biochemistry and biophysics of the ribosome
Scientific career
Fields	Biochemistry
Institutions	Copenhagen University, Uppsala University, Lund University
Doctoral advisor	James D. Watson

Charles Gabriel Kurland (born 14 January 1936) is an American-born Swedish biochemist.

Kurland earned a doctorate in 1961 at Harvard University, advised by James D. Watson. ^{[1] [2]} Kurland accepted a postdoctoral research position at the Microbiology Institute of the University of Copenhagen, then joined the Uppsala University faculty in 1971. ^[2] He retired from Uppsala in 2001, and was granted emeritus status. ^[3] He was later affiliated with Lund University. ^{[2] [4] [5]}

Research

Kurland's doctoral work dealt the structure of RNA, ^[6] and continued with the discovery of messenger RNA (mRNA), work that also involved François Gros, Walter Gilbert and James Watson. ^[7] This was published simultaneously with the report by Sydney Brenner, François Jacob and Matthew Meselson of the same discovery. ^[8] It was followed by numerous papers concerned with ribosomal proteins ^{[9] [10]}

In the later part of his career Kurland has been interested in the origins of mitochondria ^[11] and the tree of life. ^[12]

Academy memberships

Kurland was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1988 as a foreign member, and reclassified as a Swedish member in 2002. ^[13] The Estonian Academy of Sciences recognized his achievements in biochemistry, and awarded Kurland an equivalent honor in 1991. ^[3]

References

1. "Kurland, Charles, 1967 September 15-1974 May 22, 1967 September 15-1974 May 22". Harvard University. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
2. "Charles G. Kurland" (PDF). Annual International Gene Forum. 15 September 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
3. "Charles Gabriel Kurland". Estonian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
4. "Våra förfäder var glupska eukaryoter". Forskning (in Swedish). 29 May 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
5. "Charles Kurland". Lund University. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
6. Kurland, C.G. (1960). "Molecular characterization of ribonucleic acid from Escherichia coli ribosomes: I. Isolation and molecular weights". J. Mol. Biol. 1 (2): 83–91. doi:10.1016/S0022-2836(60)80029-0.
7. Gros, François; Hiatt, H.; Gilbert, Walter; Kurland, C.; Risebrough, R. W.; Watson, J. D. (1961). "Unstable ribonucleic acid revealed by pulse labelling of Escherichia coli". Nature. 190 (4776): 581–585. Bibcode:1961Natur.190..581G. doi:10.1038/190581a0.
8. Brenner, S.; Jacob, F.; Meselson, M. (1961). "An unstable intermediate carrying information from genes to ribosomes for protein synthesis". Nature. 190 (4776): 576–581. Bibcode:1961Natur.190..576B. doi:10.1038/190576a0.
9. Hardy, S. J. S.; Kurland, C. G.; Voynow, P.; Mora, G. (1969). "Ribosomal proteins of Escherichia coli. I. Purification of the 30 S ribosomal proteins". Biochemistry. 8 (7): 2897–2905. doi:10.1021/bi00835a031. PMID   4897206.
10. Gary, R.; Craven, P.; Hardy, S. J. S.; Kurland, C. G. (1969). "Ribosomal proteins of Escherichia coli. II. Chemical and physical characterization of the 30 S ribosomal proteins". Biochemistry. 8 (7): 2906–2915. doi:10.1021/bi00835a032. PMID   4897207.
11. Harish, Ajith; Kurland, C. G. (2017). "Mitochondria are not captive bacteria". J. Theor. Biol. 434: 88–98. Bibcode:2017JThBi.434...88H. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.07.011. PMID   28754286.
12. Harish, Ajith; Kurland, C. G. (2017). "Akaryotes and Eukaryotes are independent descendants of a universal common ancestor". Biochimie. 138: 168–183. doi:10.1016/j.biochi.2017.04.013. PMID   28461155.
13. "Charles Kurland". Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 March 2022.