368:, and stated that the DNA molecule consisted of a string of nucleotide units linked together through the phosphate groups, which are the 'backbone' of the molecule. His ideas about the structure of DNA were wrong; he thought there were only four nucleotides per molecule. He even declared that it could not store the genetic code because it was chemically far too simple. However, his work was a key basis for the later work that determined the structure of DNA. Levene published over 700 original papers and articles on biochemical structures. Levene died in 1940, before the true significance of DNA became clear.
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and in his spare time conducted biochemical research, publishing papers on the chemical structure of sugars. In 1896 he was appointed as an
Associate in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, but he had to take time off to recuperate from tuberculosis. During this period, he
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In 1905, Levene was appointed as head of the biochemical laboratory at the
Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research. He spent the rest of his career at this institute, and it was there that he identified the components of
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1115:
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in 1929. Not only did Levene identify the components of DNA, he also showed that the components were linked together in the order phosphate-sugar-base to form units. He called each of these units a
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1100:
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383:, it was widely thought that DNA was organized into repeating tetranucleotides in a way that could not carry genetic information. Instead, the protein component of
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292:. There he studied medicine at the Imperial Military Medical Academy (M.D., 1891) and developed an interest in biochemistry. In 1893, because of anti-Semitic
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Structural formula of a proposed tetranucleotide, later shown to be incorrect. It was proposed by
Phoebus Levene around 1910
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The
Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology
501:(1909). "Über die Pentose in den Nucleinsäuren" [About the pentose in the nucleic acids].
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631:"The "scientific catastrophe" in nucleic acids research that boosted molecular biology"
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897:"The Structure of Nucleic Acids and Many Other Natural Products: Phoebus Aaron Levene"
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was thought to be the basis of heredity; most research on the physical nature of the
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600:[About a new pentonic acid and the second inactive trioxyglutaric acid].
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amounts of adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Before the later work of
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831:, The Chemical Catalog Co., NY, 1931, pp 24 (deoxyribose) and 131 (ribose).
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598:"Ueber eine neue Pentonsäure und die zweite inactive Trioxyglutarsäure"
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229:(25 February 1869 – 6 September 1940) was a Russian-born American
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242:
238:
927:"The Structure of Yeast Nucleic Acid: IV. Ammonia Hydrolysis"
784:
Tipson RS (1957). "Phoebus Aaron
Theodor Levene, 1869–1940".
433:"The structure of yeast nucleic acid. IV. Ammonia hydrolysis"
237:. He characterized the different forms of nucleic acid,
823:
References for the discovery of ribose and deoxyribose:
468:(1909). "Über Inosinsäure" [About inosic acid].
923:
mentions scientific contributions including the paper:
406:
Levene was an elected member of both the United States
1116:
Emigrants from the
Russian Empire to the United States
344:. They also recognised that the unnatural sugar that
629:
Frixione, Eugenio; Ruiz-Zamparripa, Lourdes (2019).
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955:National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
603:Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft
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504:Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft
471:Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft
1146:Members of the American Philosophical Society
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895:Simoni RD, Hill RL, Vaughan M (31 May 2002).
8:
1101:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
680:Levene, P.A. (1909). "Yeast nucleic acid".
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233:who studied the structure and function of
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1106:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
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189:Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research
308:worked with several chemists, including
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375:which proposed that DNA was made up of
788:. Advances in Carbohydrate Chemistry.
842:Levene PA, La Forge FB (April 1915).
360:-ribose. Levene went on to discover
7:
1141:Russian people of Lithuanian descent
707:. Oxford University Press. pp.
316:, who were the experts in proteins.
546:Advances in Carbohydrate Chemistry
25:
990:Discovery of the DNA Double Helix
117:Imperial Military Medical Academy
635:Journal of Biological Chemistry
245:, and found that DNA contained
27:American biochemist (1869–1940)
919:This short article by Simoni,
536:; Fletcher, Hewitt G. (1951).
412:American Philosophical Society
340:and an essential component of
272:(Lithuanian Jewish) family as
1:
947:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)87254-4
914:10.1016/S0021-9258(20)85086-8
827:P. A. Levene and L. W. Bass,
798:10.1016/s0096-5332(08)60202-7
558:10.1016/S0096-5332(08)60066-1
450:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)87254-4
352:had reported in 1891 was the
227:Phoebus Aaron Theodore Levene
119:, St. Petersburg (M.D., 1891)
848:Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A
778:General and cited references
544:; Cantor, Sidney M. (eds.).
408:National Academy of Sciences
1162:
1126:Jewish American scientists
1111:Columbia University alumni
373:tetranucleotide hypothesis
138:Tetranucleotide hypothesis
29:
995:
616:10.1002/cber.189102402322
538:"The Chemistry of Ribose"
484:10.1002/cber.190904201196
274:Fishel Rostropovich Levin
265:, and a phosphate group.
212:
163:
60:Fishel Rostropovich Levin
46:
648:10.1074/jbc.CL119.007397
517:10.1002/cber.19090420351
371:Levene is known for his
155:William H. Nichols Medal
30:Not to be confused with
324:. In 1909, Levene and
431:Levene, P. A. (1919).
223:
699:Kay, Lily E. (1992).
221:
1096:American biochemists
869:10.1073/pnas.1.4.190
761:search.amphilsoc.org
757:"APS Member History"
552:. pp. 135–174.
403:, before the 1940s.
1121:History of genetics
860:1915PNAS....1..190L
395:, and particularly
305:Columbia University
303:Levene enrolled at
284:, then part of the
268:He was born into a
148:Willard Gibbs Medal
122:Columbia University
73:Sagor, Russia (now
925:Levene PA (1919).
844:"On Chondrosamine"
786:Adv Carbohydr Chem
224:
98:New York, New York
1073:
1072:
1030:Rosalind Franklin
737:www.nasonline.org
542:Hudson, Claude S.
534:Jeanloz, Roger W.
288:, but grew up in
216:
215:
199:Alexancler Dianin
195:Academic advisors
179:Organic Chemistry
165:Scientific career
90:September 6, 1940
70:February 25, 1869
34:, German painter.
18:Phoebus A. Levene
16:(Redirected from
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1045:Sir John Randall
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733:"Phoebus Levene"
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1060:Maurice Wilkins
1035:Raymond Gosling
1000:William Astbury
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907:(22): e11–e12.
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548:. Vol. 6.
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497:Levene, P. A.;
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464:Levene, P. A.;
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338:natural product
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310:Albrecht Kossel
276:in the town of
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1005:Oswald Avery
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854:(4): 190–1.
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185:Institutions
175:Biochemistry
164:
92:(1940-09-06)
1091:1940 deaths
1086:1869 births
1050:Alec Stokes
391:focused on
385:chromosomes
362:deoxyribose
328:recognised
263:deoxyribose
207:Adolf Mayer
105:Nationality
1080:Categories
766:2023-08-29
742:2023-08-29
688:: 120–131.
682:Biochem. Z
366:nucleotide
354:enantiomer
231:biochemist
135:components
66:1869-02-25
418:Citations
282:Lithuania
113:Education
79:Lithuania
888:16575974
816:13617111
792:: 1–12.
667:30765511
596:(1891).
576:14894350
410:and the
393:proteins
259:cytosine
108:American
879:1090774
856:Bibcode
658:6378961
401:viruses
397:enzymes
294:pogroms
255:thymine
251:guanine
247:adenine
921:et al.
886:
876:
814:
804:
715:
711:–116.
665:
655:
574:
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334:ribose
278:Žagarė
270:Litvak
171:Fields
158:(1938)
151:(1931)
144:Awards
75:Žagarė
930:(PDF)
540:. In
377:equal
336:as a
241:from
884:PMID
812:PMID
802:ISBN
713:ISBN
663:PMID
572:PMID
562:ISBN
399:and
389:gene
348:and
312:and
87:Died
56:Born
942:doi
909:doi
905:277
874:PMC
864:doi
794:doi
709:104
653:PMC
643:doi
639:294
612:doi
554:doi
513:doi
480:doi
445:doi
356:of
322:DNA
280:in
243:RNA
239:DNA
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938:40
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903:.
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