Daniel E. Koshland Jr.

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Daniel E. Koshland Jr.
Koshland in 1991
Born(1920-03-30)March 30, 1920
New York City, US
DiedJuly 23, 2007(2007-07-23) (aged 87)
Alma mater
Known for
Induced fit model
Spouses
Children5, including Douglas Koshland
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Berkeley

Daniel Edward Koshland Jr. (March 30, 1920 – July 23, 2007) was an American biochemist. He reorganized the study of biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and was the editor of the leading U.S. science journal, Science, from 1985 to 1995. He was a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences,[1] the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[2] and the American Philosophical Society.[3]

Early life

Koshland was born to a

C.E.O. of Levi Strauss & Co. from 1955 to 1958[4] and is widely credited with saving the company during the Great Depression.[5]

In 1997, Koshland's private fortune, derived from Levi Strauss, put him at 64th on the list of America's wealthiest people.[6] Rather than relying on his fortune, Koshland chose to pursue a career in science.[7] Koshland wrote in an autobiographical article that he decided to become a scientist in the eighth grade after reading two popular books about science, Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif and Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.[8]

Research career

Attending Phillips Exeter Academy[9] for high school Koshland then became the third generation of his family to matriculate to the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in chemistry. The next five years, 1941–46, were spent working with

Manhattan project, where his team purified the plutonium that was used to make the atomic bomb at Los Alamos.[10]

In 1949, he received his

Later Koshland turned to studying how bacteria control their movements in chemotaxis.[17] His laboratory made three major discoveries concerning protein phosphorylation in bacteria:

  1. The first phosphorylated bacterial protein, isocitrate dehydrogenase, was identified.[18]
  2. It was demonstrated that substituting an aspartate residue for the serine residue that was phosphorylated causes the protein to behave as if it were phosphorylated.[19]
  3. The
    protein phosphatases with a covalent intermediate.[20][21]

He spearheaded the reorganization of the biological sciences at Berkeley, merging eleven departments into three.[22] In 1992, Koshland Hall was named after him.[7] The building is located next to (and on some floors connected to) Barker Hall. Koshland Hall houses a number of laboratories in both molecular and cell biology as well as plant and microbial biology.[23]

Koshland served as editor of the journal Science from 1985 to 1995.[24] His philosophical essay The Seven Pillars of Life is frequently cited and discussed in terms of extraterrestrial and artificial life as well as biological life.[25][26]

In 1998, Koshland was awarded the

Albert Lasker Special Achievement Award given by the Lasker Foundation for medical research in the United States.[27] In 2008, the award was renamed the Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science in honor of Koshland.[28]

Personal life

He was married to Marian Koshland (née Elliot), a fellow Berkeley professor, from 1946 until her death in 1997. Marian was not Jewish, the daughter of a teacher who had immigrated from Denmark and a hardware salesman father of Southern Baptist background.[29] Daniel and Marian had five children: Ellen Koshland, Phyllis "Phylp" Koshland, James Koshland, Gail Koshland, and Douglas Koshland.[7] Koshland's son Douglas is a professor of genetics at the University of California, Berkeley.[30] Daniel Koshland supported the creation of the Marian Koshland Science Museum by giving a major gift to the National Academy of Sciences in Marian's honor.[7]

After his wife's death in 1997 he reconnected with onetime Berkeley classmate Yvonne Cyr San Jule and they were married in Lafayette on August 17, 2000.[31] San Jule had four children from previous marriages: conductor Christopher Keene, Philip Keene, Elodie Keene, and Tamsen (née San Jule) Calhoon.[22]

See also

References

  1. .
  2. ^ "Daniel E. Koshland". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Butler Koshland Fellowships: "Daniel E. Koshland Sr. Archived March 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine retrieved April 21, 2014
  5. ^ JWeekly: "Daniel Koshland, biologist and philanthropist, dies at 87" by Joe Eskenazi Archived April 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine July 27, 2007
  6. ^ "Richest List Has Gates at No. 1, Plus 83 Californians". Los Angeles Times. September 29, 1997. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Maugh, II, Thomas H. (July 26, 2007). "Daniel Koshland Jr., 87; UC Berkeley molecular biologist". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  8. PMID 8811172
    .
  9. ^ "Phillips Exeter Academy | Dr. Daniel E. Koshland '37 to Receive the John Phillips Award". Exeter.edu. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  10. ^ "Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science". laskerfoundation.org. The Lasker Foundation. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  11. ^ "Remembrances: Daniel E. Koshland Jr. (1920–2007)". The Wall Street Journal. July 28, 2007. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  12. .
  13. .
  14. .
  15. .
  16. .
  17. .
  18. .
  19. .
  20. .
  21. .
  22. ^ a b Sanders, Robert (July 24, 2007). "Eminent biochemist Daniel Koshland has died". berkeley.edu. University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  23. ^ "Koshland Hall". University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  24. ^ "Dan Koshland, 1920–2007: In Memoriam". Science. AAAS. 2007. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  25. PMID 11910092
    .
  26. from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  27. ^ "1998 Albert Lasker Special Achievement Award in Medical Science: Science communication and education". Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  28. ^ "Discoverers of Small Regulatory RNAs and Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs to Receive Lasker Awards for Medical Research". MarketWatch. September 13, 2008. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
  29. ^ Guyer, Ruth Levy. "Marian E. Koshland Biographical Memoir" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 9, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  30. ^ "ASCB Profile: Douglas Koshland" (PDF). Ascb Newsletter. American Society for Cell Biology: 12–13. 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 14, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  31. (PDF) from the original on September 17, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2016.

External links