Aaron Klug facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aaron Klug
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Aaron Klug in 1979
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| Born | 11 August 1926 Želva, Lithuania
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| Died | 20 November 2018 (aged 92) Cambridge, UK
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| Nationality | British |
| Education | Durban High School |
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | Crystallographic electron microscopy |
| Spouse(s) |
Liebe Bobrow
(m. 1948) |
| Children | Two |
| Awards |
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| Thesis | The kinetics of phase changes in solids (1953) |
| Doctoral advisor | Douglas Hartree |
Sir Aaron Klug (born August 11, 1926 – died November 20, 2018) was a British biophysicist and chemist. He won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He earned this award for developing a special way to look at tiny things. This method is called crystallographic electron microscopy. He used it to figure out the structure of important nucleic acid-protein complexes in living things.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Aaron Klug was born in Želva, Lithuania. When he was two years old, his Jewish parents moved to South Africa. He went to Durban High School there. A book called Microbe Hunters made him very interested in tiny living things.
He first studied microbiology. But then he switched to physics and math. He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Science, from the University of the Witwatersrand. Later, he got his Master of Science degree in physics from the University of Cape Town.
In 1951, he received a special scholarship. This allowed him to move to England. He finished his PhD in physics at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1953.
Amazing Discoveries in Science
After getting his PhD, Klug started working at Birkbeck College in 1953. He worked with a scientist named Rosalind Franklin. This work made him very interested in studying viruses. He made important discoveries about how the tobacco mosaic virus is built.
In 1962, he moved to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Over the next ten years, Klug developed a new way to see tiny structures. He combined methods like X-ray diffraction and microscopy. This new method was called crystallographic electron microscopy. It allowed him to take many 2D pictures of crystals. Then, he could combine them to create a 3D image.
He used this method to study many important things. He looked at the structure of transfer RNA. He also found special parts of proteins called zinc fingers. His work even helped understand the tiny fibers linked to Alzheimer's disease.
Klug also taught at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Even after winning the Nobel Prize, he continued teaching. He found his courses very interesting. From 1986 to 1996, he was the director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology. He also helped start the Wellcome Sanger Institute. This institute played a big part in the Human Genome Project.
Awards and Special Honors
Aaron Klug received many awards for his scientific work. In 1981, he won the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize. Elizabeth II, the Queen of England, made him a knight in 1988. This means he was called "Sir Aaron Klug."
In 1969, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very old and respected scientific group. He was even the President of the Royal Society from 1995 to 2000. In 1995, he was given the Order of Merit. This is a very special honor in the United Kingdom.
His election to the Royal Society recognized his work on viruses. It said he was known for his "contributions to molecular biology, especially the structure of viruses." It also mentioned his work with Donald Caspar on how spherical viruses are built.
In 2000, he received the Golden Plate Award. In 2005, South Africa gave him the Order of Mapungubwe (gold). This was for his amazing work in medical science.
In 2013, a special science center was named after him in Israel. It's called the Aaron Klug Integrated Centre for Biomolecular Structure. This shows how important his work was around the world.
Personal Life
Aaron Klug married Liebe Bobrow in 1948. They had two children. He was a religious person. He visited Israel many times and had a strong connection to the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
See also
In Spanish: Aaron Klug para niños
