Linus Pauling: Scientist and Social Activist
Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: A STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION OF THE ACIDITY OF GROUPS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HEMES OF HEMOGLOBIN AND HEMOGLOBIN DERIVATIVESJournal of Biological ChemistryVol. 132Issue 2Preview Full-Text PDF Open Access A Structural Interpretation of the Acidity of Groups Associated with the Hemes of Hemoglobin and Hemoglobin Derivatives (Coryell, C. D., and Pauling, L. (1940) J. Biol. Chem. 132, 769-779) Linus Carl Pauling (1901-1994) was born in Portland, Oregon. His father, Herman Pauling, a pharmacist, died when Linus was 9, and by the age of 12, Linus was working to support his mother and two sisters. In spite of his family responsibilities, he excelled in high school and began to develop an interest in science with support and encouragement from his high school teachers. Although his mother wanted him to become a machinist, Linus was determined to become a research scientist and entered the Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) to study chemistry. Because he was a very successful student, he was often asked to teach courses he had just taken. While teaching chemistry to home economics majors, he met his future wife, Ava Helen Miller. 1Much of the information for this JBC Classic introduction is from a biography provided by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (1Biography of Linus Pauling provided by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (lpi.oregonstate.edu/lpbio2.html)Google Scholar) and one in the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalists Biography (2Biography of Linus Pauling in the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalists (www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/linuspauling.html). Pauling, who did not believe in God or the mystical aspects of religion, was a member of the Los Angeles Unitarian Church, which often provided venues or platforms for his social activism.Google Scholar).1Much of the information for this JBC Classic introduction is from a biography provided by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (1Biography of Linus Pauling provided by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (lpi.oregonstate.edu/lpbio2.html)Google Scholar) and one in the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalists Biography (2Biography of Linus Pauling in the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalists (www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/linuspauling.html). Pauling, who did not believe in God or the mystical aspects of religion, was a member of the Los Angeles Unitarian Church, which often provided venues or platforms for his social activism.Google Scholar). In 1922, Pauling enrolled in the Ph.D. program in chemistry at California Institute of Technology and received his degree in 1927. After a year in Europe, he returned to Cal Tech as an Assistant Professor of Theoretical Chemistry to begin his pioneering work on the nature of chemical bonds. His work followed on the fundamental changes in physical science from the mathematical approaches of Bohr, Heisenberg, and Schrodinger. Pauling developed approximate methods for using empirically the mathematical treatments of quantum theory. The values that he calculated for orientation and bond strength of atoms in molecules matched closely the results from x-ray diffraction studies. His marriage of quantum theory and experimental work contributed concepts such as “hydrogen bonding,” “resonance,” “hybrid bond,” and “valence bond” to the chemist's vocabulary. In 1939, Pauling published his famous book, The Nature of the Chemical Bond. The paper selected as a JBC Classic represents Pauling's exploration of protein structure at an early stage. In 1904 Bohr had discovered that pH affected the oxygen binding equilibrium of hemoglobin. This work stimulated many investigators to examine the relationship of the acid groups of amino acid side chains to the heme moieties in hemoglobin. The worked described in this JBC Classic defined the pK value of the critical histidine imidazole ring as the acid group that coordinated with the heme iron. Pauling's work predicted the structural change that occurs as the iron moves into the plane of the heme upon oxygenation. The prediction was confirmed many years later when Perutz determined the three-dimensional structure of different forms of hemoglobin. Pauling's major contributions to biochemistry came with the application of his structural approaches and insights to the study of peptides and proteins. In 1937, Robert Corey, the author of a previous JBC Classic (3JBC Classics: Wycoff R.W.G. Corey R.B. J. Biol. Chem. 1936; 116: 51-55http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/277/44/e32Abstract Full Text PDF Google Scholar), joined Pauling as a research fellow, and together they developed the application of x-ray diffraction analysis to the structures of amino acids and small peptides. The resulting description of protein secondary structures, the α-helix and the β-pleated sheet, was published in three classic papers (4Corey R.B. Branson H.R. Pauling L. The structure of proteins: two hydrogen-bonded helical configurations of the polypeptide chain..Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1951; 37: 205-211Crossref PubMed Scopus (1948) Google Scholar, 5Corey R.B. Pauling L. . The pleated sheet, a new layer configuration of polypeptide chains..Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1951; 37: 251-256Crossref PubMed Scopus (411) Google Scholar, 6Corey R.B. Pauling L. Configurations of polypeptide chains favored orientation around single bonds: two new pleated sheets..Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1951; 37: 729-740Crossref PubMed Google Scholar). Here again, these forms were confirmed to exist in proteins only many years later by x-ray crystallographic analysis. Like many other scientists during World War II, Pauling devoted himself and his laboratory to the war effort. He devised explosives and missile propellants for the Navy, invented an oxygen meter for submarines, and, together with others, developed a synthetic blood plasma substitute to be used for emergency transfusions on the battlefield. He also served as a member of a Presidential Commission on the direction of government science policy. For his efforts, Pauling was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit by President Harry S. Truman. This award later seemed ironic when Pauling's antinuclear efforts were met with government persecution, questions about patriotism, and some public disapproval. After the war, Pauling returned to his research on protein structure but was increasingly concerned about the dangers he saw in the dawning nuclear age. He became a very active and outspoken opponent of further development, testing, and abuse of nuclear weapons. As a result, he was treated almost as a traitor by the government during the McCarthy/loyalty oath era and for several years was denied a passport to travel to scientific meetings. His unrestricted passport was restored in1954 to enable him to travel to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. On October 10, 1963, the day that the limited nuclear test ban treaty, signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR, became effective, Pauling's efforts as an opponent of nuclear proliferation and a social activist were recognized by the Nobel Prize for Peace for 1962. Pauling is the only person to have received two unshared Nobel Prizes. After 42 years, Pauling left Cal Tech under pressure from the University administration and some of the trustees because of his persistent and very public antinuclear and international peace efforts. Subsequently, he held professorships at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of California at San Diego, and Stanford University from which he retired in 1973. After retiring, Pauling founded the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine to explore and promote his growing interest in the role of nutrition in health. From this base, he became best known for championing the use of vitamin C to combat a range of illnesses including the common cold. It is unfortunate that one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century is probably best known today for his efforts to promote vitamin C as an unproven cure for many illnesses.
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,430
OpenAlex ID: W1751998937