Luis Federico Leloir
Leloir, Luis Federico (1906-1987), an Argentine biochemist, discovered certain compounds that affect the storage of chemical energy in living things. He received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1970 for these discoveries.
Luis Federico Leloir was born Sept. 6, 1906, in Paris, to Argentine parents, Federico and Hortensia (Aguirre) Leloir, who returned to Buenos Aires when Luis was 2 years old. Leloir received his medical degree in 1932 from the University of Buenos Aires. He studied and worked at Cambridge University in England, the Institute of Physiology in Buenos Aires, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and Columbia University in New York. Leloir returned to Argentina in June 1970 and set up and directed the Institute of Biochemical Research in Buenos Aires.
Leloir researched the formation and chemical breakdown in the body of lactose (a sugar present in milk) and glycogen (a carbohydrate energy source stored in the liver). Studying these sugars, Leloir discovered sugar nucleotides, compounds that combine part of a sugar molecule with a nucleotide to build different sugar molecules. Nucleotides, which are compounds of carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, and other chemicals, are the main components of DNA, the hereditary material found in genes.
A remarkable aspect of Leloir's discovery was his quick realization that he had found the key that would enable scientists to unravel a large number of metabolic reactions. Leloir's studies stimulated much further research.
Leloir announced his discovery of a sugar nucleotide in 1949. By the time he received his Nobel Prize in 1970, he and other scientists had discovered more than 100 sugar nucleotides. After receiving the prize, Leloir became a national hero in Argentina.
Leloir's other research included the oxidation of fatty acids in the liver; the formation of angiotensin, a substance that affects blood pressure; and a study of diabetes and the adrenal glands, the hormone-producing glands above the kidneys.