Juda Hirsch Quastel facts for kids

Juda Hirsch Quastel (born October 2, 1899, died October 15, 1987) was a famous British-Canadian scientist. He was a biochemist, which means he studied the chemistry of living things. Quastel was a pioneer in many areas, like how the brain works chemically (neurochemistry). He also studied how soil works, how cells use energy (cellular metabolism), and even cancer.

About Juda Quastel

Juda Hirsch Quastel was born in Sheffield, England. His friends and family often called him "Harry" or "Q." His parents, Jonas and Flora, moved to Britain from Eastern Europe in 1897. Juda was named after his grandfather, who was also a chemist.

He went to school in Sheffield. During World War I, from 1917 to 1919, he worked for the British Army. He was a laboratory assistant at St George's Hospital.

His Education and Early Work

Quastel chose to study chemistry. He earned his first degree from Imperial College London in 1921. He then went to the University of Cambridge for his advanced studies.

At Cambridge, he worked with Frederick Gowland Hopkins. Hopkins was a very important biochemist in Britain. He later won a Nobel Prize for his work on vitamins. Under Hopkins, Quastel earned his PhD in biochemistry in 1924. Soon after, he became a Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Quastel stayed at Cambridge as a lecturer until 1929. During this time, he started important research. He studied how tiny living things (microbes) use enzymes.

Research on the Brain and Soil

In 1930, Quastel became the Director of Research at the Cardiff City Mental Hospital. Here, he began studying the brain's chemistry. He looked at how enzymes and metabolism work in the brain. For this important work, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1940.

In 1941, during World War II, Britain needed to grow more food. The Agricultural and Food Research Council asked Quastel to lead a new research team. This team worked on improving crop yields at the Rothamsted Experimental Station.

Quastel studied soil as if it were a living system, not just dirt. He used special methods, like perfusion, which he learned from studying animal organs. He once wrote that soil is like an "organ" that can have chemical reactions.

Using these methods, Quastel found out how different plant hormones and chemicals affect tiny organisms in the soil. He also saw how these chemicals directly helped plants grow. Some of his team's discoveries were kept secret during the war. But after the war, they were used commercially.

One famous invention was a chemical called 2,4-D. This was one of the first "hormone herbicides." It helped farmers control weeds and changed agriculture worldwide. It is still widely used today. Another invention was a soil conditioner. It is sold by Monsanto Company under the name Krilium.

Moving to Canada

After World War II, Quastel moved to Canada. He was invited to work at the McGill University-Montreal General Hospital Research Institute. He also became a professor of biochemistry at McGill University in 1947. The next year, he became the Director of the Institute.

For 19 years at McGill, Quastel guided 70 students earning their PhDs. His Institute published over 300 scientific papers. These papers covered many topics. They included how tiny organisms use energy, soil chemistry, brain chemistry, and even cancer.

After retiring from McGill in 1966, Quastel accepted a new job. He became a professor of neurochemistry at the University of British Columbia. This was the first position of its kind at that university.

Awards and Recognition

Quastel received many awards for his work. In 1970, he received Canada's highest honor, the Companionship of the Order of Canada. In the same year, he received an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He had been a governor there since 1950. McGill University also gave him an honorary Doctorate of Science in 1969. In 1983, he became an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He passed away in Vancouver on October 16, 1987.

Family Life

In 1931, Quastel married Henrietta Jungmann. They had three children: Michael, David, and Barbara. After Henrietta passed away in 1973, he married Susan Ricardo in 1975.

He had eleven grandchildren, including the mathematician Jeremy Quastel.