Anne Beloff-Chain facts for kids
Anne Ethel Beloff-Chain, Lady Chain (born June 26, 1921 – died December 2, 1991) was a brilliant biochemist from Britain. A biochemist studies the chemistry of living things. She worked at important scientific places like the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Italy, Imperial College London in the UK, and the University of Buckingham. Her main research was about how our bodies use carbohydrates (like sugars) and how hormones affect conditions like diabetes and obesity.
Growing Up and Becoming a Scientist
Anne Ethel Beloff was born in 1921 in Hampstead, a part of London. Her parents, Semion and Maria, had a Russian-Jewish background. She had several siblings, including famous people like a historian, a psychologist, a journalist, and a politician.
Anne studied chemistry at University College London and earned her degree in 1942. After that, she went to the University of Oxford to get her PhD. Her special research there was about the biochemistry of skin burns. In 1946, she visited Harvard Medical School in the United States to do more research.
She came back to the UK in 1948. That same year, she married Ernst Boris Chain, who was also a biochemist. He had won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for his work on penicillin. Anne moved with him to Rome, Italy.
A Life in Science
From 1948 to 1964, Beloff-Chain worked at Italy's Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institute of Health) alongside her husband. She was the chief research scientist there. Her work focused on how our bodies handle carbohydrates. She also studied how insulin works to control hormones related to diabetes and obesity.
One of her most important discoveries was about a hormone called beta-cell-tropin. This hormone helps release insulin. She found that people who were obese had higher levels of beta-cell-tropin in their blood. This was a big step in understanding obesity.
In 1964, Anne and her husband moved back to London. She started teaching biochemistry at Imperial College London. She became a professor of biochemistry in 1983. In 1985, she decided to move her research team to a new place.
A new laboratory was built for her at the University of Buckingham. She became a professor there in 1986. She received money from the Clore Foundation to start and lead the Department of Biochemistry. She continued her important work there until she passed away.
Her Lasting Impact
Anne Ethel Beloff-Chain died on December 2, 1991, in Camden Town, London. She is best remembered for her major discovery about beta-cell-tropin. This finding helped scientists understand more about how hormones affect obesity. Her work made a lasting impact on the study of metabolism and health.
