Obituary of Hans Adolf Krebs

We lost one of the greatest minds from our time on Tuesday November 22, 1938
Hans Adolf Krebs died in Oxford of United Kingdom from natural causes. He is survived and
mourned by his wife Margaret Cicely Fieldhouse Krebs and 3 children: Paul, Sir John, and
Helen Krebs.
He was born on August 25, 1900 in Hildesheim Germany to mother, Alma Davidson
Krebs, and father Georg Krebs. His father was a physician who inspired him to follow a
career path in science and medicine. He attended various universities where he studied
medicine such as the University of Gttingen, the university of Freiburg, the university of
Berlin, and the university of Hamburg.
He studied under Otto Warburg as a research assistant at the Kaiser Wilhelm
Institute for Biology. After 4 years and 16 publications, in 1930, his mentor, Warburg,
encouraged him to move on and perform his own research. In 1932, he discovered the
ornithine cycle of urea synthesis, which describes reactions that occur in organisms in
order to produce urea from ammonia. It is this discovery that gave him a reputation as a
great scientist around the world.
As the Nazis gained power, he was denied a job in 1933 because of his Jewish
background. Fortunately, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins offered him a job at the
Biochemical Institute at Cambridge. From there his carrier took him to various research
facilities and universities where he became a professor. In 1947, he was elected as a
member of the royal society.
He is most famous for his discovery of the citric acid cycle, also known as the Krebs
cycle, named after him. It is a series of reactions that occur in all aerobic organisms to
generate energy from the oxidation of acetate derived from the breakdown of
carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Krebs won a Nobel Prize of Medicine, shared with
American Fritz Lipmann in 1953 for the discovery of the Krebs cycle. He went on to win
many more awards such as the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1953, a
Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 1954, a Copley medal in 1961, and a Gold Medal of
the Netherlands Society for Physics, Medical Science and Surgery in 1958. He was
knighted in 1958 and amazingly received honorary doctorate degrees from 21 different
universities.
Krebs will be dearly missed by his family and friend as well as the entire scientific
community. He was not only a great scientist but also a great person with an exceptional
personality who is an exceptional example of how scientists should be. He remained
modest despite all his great achievements and said that what the giants of science teach
us is to see ourselves modestly and not to overrate ourselves.

Introduction of Peter Mitchell

We are lucky to say that we have Peter Dennis Mitchell, one of the best scientists of
our time with us today. He is here to give us a speech about one of his greatest
achievement and one of the biggest discoveries in the science world about ATP synthesis n
our cells.
He was born 29 September, 1920 to parents Christopher Gibbs Mitchell and Kate
Beatrice Dorothy. He was born, raised and even educated in England where he attended
Queens college and Jesus College where he studied biochemistry. In 1942, he began
research for the Department of Biochemistry of Cambridge. Here, he worked for his Ph.D.
under J.F. Danielli. He then received his degree of Ph.D. in 1951 for his research on
penicillin. He then worked as the Demonstrator for the same department for four years
until 1955.
He was soon appointed to direct a research unit in the Department of zoology of
Edinburg University. Here, he greatly advanced in his carrier. In 1961, he became Senior
Lectureship and in 1962 he became Readership. Unfortunately, he had to resign in 1963
because of serious health issues.
For the next 2 years, he completely withdrew from scientific research and he
supervised as an architect the restoration Glynn House in the Glynn Valley. With the
support of his colleague Jennifer Moyle, he set up a charitable research foundation called
the Glynn Research Ltd. He donated as much as 250,000 for this foundation. It is here
that he and his colleagues embarked on the programme of research of chemiosmosis
reactions and reaction systems that result in the production of ATP. He led to the
understanding of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria which provides energy for
almost all living cells.
He received various medals for his research including the CIBA Medal and Prize from
the British Biochemical Society in 1973, the Warren Triennial Prize in 1974, the Louis and
Bert Freedman Foundation Award in 1974, the Wilhelm Feldberg Foundation Prize in 1976
and the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award in 1977. He received Honorary Degree of Doctor of
Science from Exeter University and the University of Chicago in 1977 and 1978,
respectively. He has also been awarded for his amazing findings by being a member of
various prestigious societies. Such as the European Molecular Biology Organisation, the
fellowship of the Royal Society, the American Society of Biological Chemists, the American
Academy of Arts and Science, the National Academy of Sciences and the Sir Hans Krebs
Lecture and Medal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

This is why we are so honored to have Dr. Mitchell, a great scientist with us today.
Give a warm welcome for Dr. Peter Mitchell.