11 Hargobind Khorana

Dr. Hargobind Khorana

Time period:

1951-1960

Subject:

Genetics

Biography:

HarGobind was born in Punjab, to two Hindu parents, and was the youngest of five. His actual birthdate is not known as it was never properly recorded but the best guest would place it around January 9, 1922. His family was poor, but this did not stop Khorana’s father’s drive for making sure his children were properly educated leading to his family being one of the most literate in his entire village. From this strong base for education, Khorana had a strong drive for education, this is what drove him to obtain his Master of Science from the University of Punjab. After a few years, he would go on to win the award of a Government of India fellowship allowing him to move to England, which is where he would go on to obtain his PhD from the University of Liverpool. He would eventually begin to research nucleic acids and their relation to the manufacturing of new proteins, which would eventually lead him to win a Nobel Prize in physiology  for his work

Summary of their contributions:

He confirmed several concepts that would eventually go on to aid in the understanding of protein synthesis and how DNA is involved. He confirmed the four different types of nucleotides are arranged on the spiral structure of DNA. He also was the person to discover that nucleotides were transmitted in groups of three which were later named a “codon”. Lastly, he also discovered that certain codons started the process of protein synthesis, and some stopped the process altogether. These were also later called stop/start codons and were seen as a way of regulating protein synthesis.

Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:

HarGobind Khorana’s findings can be talked about through science 8 such as: when talking about ribosomes and DNA in grade 8 but he is crucial in science work directly related to biology unit talks about protein synthesis which will heavily cover his contributions to the discovery of codons. Lastly, he can be brought up one more time in Life Science 11 when talking about mutations in the evolution unit.

References:

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, November 5). Har Gobind Khorana. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Har-Gobind-Khorana

Khorana, G. (2023, December, 23). “Facts” Nobelpeaceprize.org. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1968/khorana/biographical/