Abstract
THE arrival, all too infrequently, of neatly blue-bound reprints continues to remind us of the energetic prosecution of the steroid hormone field by the school of chemistry in Zurich. Two and a half years ago we had the pleasure of referring to Prof. L. Ruzicka's election as a Nobel Laureate for the year 1939-an honour which he shared with Prof. Butenandt (NATURE, 144, 858; 1939). A brief account was given there of the work for which the award was made. To-day we welcome Prof. Ruzicka's election to the foreign membership of the Royal Society. His work forms the basis of the advances leading to the whole subject of the steroid hormones. It will be remembered that his great contribution consisted in his recognition of the importance of the residual part of the sterol molecule which remained after removal of the side chain. With characteristic insight Ruzicka realized that which the GÖttingen workers had failed to see; namely, that the cyclopentenophenanthrene nucleus left after the above operations presented a jumping-off ground for further important investigations. There followed that brilliant series of researches leading to the male hormone progesterone, corticosterone and so on. It will be recalled that his early publications resulted in one of the most bitter polemics in science the century has known. Since the Nobel award, Ruzicka's main work has been the extension and amplification of the various substances that can be made from sterol disintegration. Numerous papers have appeared from his laboratory, many of which have recently arrived in Great Britain.
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Prof. L. Ruzicka. Nature 149, 727 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149727a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149727a0