Charles Kurland
American-born Swedish biochemist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Gabriel Kurland (born 14 January 1936) is an American-born Swedish biochemist.
14 January 1936
Charles Kurland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Gabriel Kurland 14 January 1936 |
| Citizenship | American and Swedish |
| Education | Harvard |
| Known for | Biochemistry and biophysics of the ribosome |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
| Institutions | Copenhagen University, Uppsala University, Lund University |
| Doctoral advisor | James D. Watson |
Kurland earned a doctorate in 1961 at Harvard University, advised by James D. Watson.[1][2] Kurland accepted a postdoctoral research position at the Microbiology Institute of the University of Copenhagen, then joined the Uppsala University faculty in 1971.[2] He retired from Uppsala in 2001, and was granted emeritus status.[3] He was later affiliated with Lund University.[2][4][5]
Research
Kurland's doctoral work dealt the structure of RNA,[6] and continued with the discovery of messenger RNA (mRNA), work that also involved François Gros, Walter Gilbert and James Watson.[7] This was published simultaneously with the report by Sydney Brenner, François Jacob and Matthew Meselson of the same discovery.[8] It was followed by numerous papers concerned with ribosomal proteins[9][10]
In the later part of his career Kurland has been interested in the origins of mitochondria[11] and the tree of life.[12]
Academy memberships
Kurland was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1988 as a foreign member, and reclassified as a Swedish member in 2002.[13] The Estonian Academy of Sciences recognized his achievements in biochemistry, and awarded Kurland an equivalent honor in 1991.[3]
