Carolyn Bertozzi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carolyn Bertozzi
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Bertozzi in 2022
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Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi
October 10, 1966 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Education | |
| Known for | Bioorthogonal chemistry |
| Relatives | Andrea Bertozzi (sister) |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
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| Thesis | Synthesis and biological activity of carbon-linked glycosides (1993) |
| Doctoral advisor | Mark D. Bednarski |
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Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi (born October 10, 1966) is an American chemist and Nobel Prize winner. She is famous for her work that combines chemistry and biology. She created the term "bioorthogonal chemistry" for special chemical reactions. These reactions can happen inside living things without harming them.
Her recent work helps us understand sugars on cell surfaces, called glycans. She studies how these sugars affect diseases like cancer, inflammation, and viral infections such as COVID-19. Carolyn Bertozzi works at Stanford University. She is also a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). She used to lead the Molecular Foundry, a place where scientists study tiny materials called nanomaterials.
She received a special "genius" award from the MacArthur Foundation when she was 33. In 2010, she was the first woman to win the important Lemelson–MIT Prize. She is a member of several important science groups. These include the National Academy of Sciences (since 2005). In 2014, she became the leader of ACS Central Science. This is a science journal that shares all its articles for free.
Carolyn Bertozzi won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She shared it with Morten P. Meldal and Karl Barry Sharpless. They won for developing "click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry."
Contents
Education and Early Life
Carolyn Bertozzi earned her first degree in chemistry from Harvard University. She worked with Professor Joe Grabowski on a special project. She designed and built a machine that used light and sound to measure heat. Her work was so good that she won a prize for her thesis. While at Harvard, she played in several bands.
After Harvard, she continued her studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her Ph.D. in chemistry in 1993. Her research focused on making special sugar-like molecules. During her studies, she found out that viruses can attach to sugars in the body. This discovery led her to study glycobiology, which is the study of sugars in living things.
Carolyn grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. Her father was a physics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She and her two sisters, including Andrea Bertozzi who is a math professor, grew up surrounded by science. Her father hoped they would all become nuclear physicists. Carolyn chose Harvard because it offered many different subjects, not just science. She also considered a career in music. She won awards for her music compositions in high school. But she always felt most drawn to science.
Career and Important Discoveries
After getting her Ph.D., Carolyn Bertozzi worked as a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She studied how sugars on the surface of cells help them stick together. This is important in places where the body has inflammation. She found ways to change proteins and sugar molecules in living cells. This allowed cells to accept new materials, like medical implants.
In 1996, Bertozzi became a professor at the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry. She also worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She has been a researcher with HHMI since 2000. In 1999, she started a new field of science called bioorthogonal chemistry. She gave it that name in 2003. This new method lets scientists change molecules inside living organisms. The amazing part is that these changes do not stop the cell's normal activities. In 2015, she moved to Stanford University.
Bertozzi studies how sugars, or glycans, are involved in diseases. These include cancer, inflammatory problems like arthritis, and infections like tuberculosis. She has helped us understand how sugars on cell surfaces help cells recognize each other. Her discoveries have improved how we develop new medicines. Her lab has also created new tools for research. For example, they made chemical tools to study glycans in living systems. Her lab's work on tiny nanotechnologies led to a fast test for tuberculosis in 2018.
In 2017, she gave a TED talk at Stanford. She talked about how sugars on cancer cells help them hide from the body's immune system. The talk was called "What the sugar coating on your cells is trying to tell you."
Biotechnology Companies
Carolyn Bertozzi has helped start several companies. These companies use her scientific discoveries to create new treatments and tools.
- In 2001, she co-founded Thios Pharmaceuticals. This company aimed to target specific chemical pathways in the body.
- In 2008, Bertozzi started Redwood Bioscience. This company developed a special technology called SMARTag. It helps attach small drugs to specific spots on proteins. This can be used to fight cancers. Another company, Catalent Pharma Solutions, bought Redwood Bioscience in 2014. Bertozzi still advises them.
- In 2014, she co-founded Enable Biosciences. This company works on home tests for diseases like type 1 diabetes and HIV.
- In 2015, she helped start Palleon Pharma. This company looks for new ways to treat cancer by focusing on the immune system.
- In 2017, Bertozzi helped create InterVenn Biosciences. This company uses advanced technology and artificial intelligence to study proteins and sugars. They aim to find new ways to diagnose and treat diseases like ovarian cancer.
- In 2018, she co-founded the Grace Science Foundation. This group works to find a cure for a rare genetic disease called NGLY1 deficiency.
- In 2019, she co-founded OliLux Biosciences and Lycia Therapeutics. OliLux Biosciences develops new ways to find tuberculosis. Lycia Therapeutics works on new molecules called LYTACs. These molecules might help treat heart disease and cancer.
Awards and Honors
Carolyn Bertozzi has received many awards for her important work. Some of them include:
- 1999 – MacArthur Fellowship (often called the "genius" award)
- 2001 – ACS Award in Pure Chemistry
- 2005 – Member of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2010 – Lemelson–MIT Prize (first woman to receive this faculty award)
- 2012 – Heinrich Wieland Prize
- 2022 – Wolf Prize in Chemistry
- 2022 – Dickson Prize in Medicine
- 2022 – Welch Award in Chemistry
- 2022 – Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 2024 – Priestley Medal, American Chemical Society (the highest award in American chemistry)
Images for kids
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Carolyn Bertozzi receiving the Emanuel Merck Lectureship in 2011
See also
In Spanish: Carolyn R. Bertozzi para niños
