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Childhood and Early Life
Gerty, a Jewish was born on 15th of August, In 1896, In Prague. She was the oldest child of Otto and Martha Radnitz. Till the age of ten she was homeschooled, and in 1906, she went to a Lyceum for girls. In 1912 she graduated and studied for the qualifying examination to enroll in the University. At sixteen Gerty decided to opt for medicine for further studies. Gerty was accepted in the ‘Medical School’ in the ‘University of Prague’, and in 1920, she received the Doctorate in Medicine. -
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Personal Life & Legacy
Carl and Gerty, who were fellow students, got married in the year 1920, just after graduation. They went to the United States, in the break of war and got citizenship in the year 1928. Their only son Carl Thomas was born eight years later. In the year 1947, Gerty was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis which is an unusual disease of the bone marrow. On 26th of October in the year 1957, she died of renal failure. Edward R. Murrow, -
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Career
In 1922, they moved to Buffalo, where Carl was offered a position at the ‘State Institute for the Study of Malignant Diseases’. Initially,
In 1929, the scientific couple came up with the theory which later prompted the nomination for Nobel Prize. In 1931, Carl took the position of Chairman in the Department of Pharmacology at ‘Washington University School of Medicine’.
In 1947, they won the Nobel Prize, and two months later, Gerty rose to the rank of professor of Biological Chemistry. -
Major work
Among all her work, the most famous is the ‘theory of Cori cycle’ which explained the metabolism of glucose in the body. According to the theory, some portion of the carbohydrates, in particular glycogen is converted by the muscles to lactic acid which is then reconverted to glycogen by the liver so that it can be utilised by the muscles.