Prof. Daniela Seelenfreund launched book about scientist Otto Warburg
Otto Warburg is the precursor of modern biochemistry. This German scientist stood out for his prolific work during the beginning of the 20th century and even in the midst of Nazi Germany, researching fundamental topics such as cancer. He obtained the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1931 and his disciples trained Chilean scientists who were fundamental for the development of biochemistry in Chile.
Last Monday, June 17, the presentation of the book took place in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of Chile. “Work and legacy of Otto Warburg. A milestone in the history of Biochemistry”written by Prof. Daniela Seelenfreund.
The Prof. Nelson Ibarradirector of Extension and Liaison of the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, attended on behalf of the dean Prof. Pablo Richter. In addition, various academics from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology attended, including professors Dante Miranda – director of said academic unit -, Alfonso Paredes, Christian Wilson and the emeritus academic Maria Antonieta Valenzuela. Likewise, graduates and students of the Faculty, among other guests, attended the launch.
The doctor. Jorge Martinezpresident of the board of Editorial Universitaria and Prof. Victoria Guixé from the Faculty of Sciences accompanied Prof. Seelenfreund at its launch. “This greeting is extended to Daniela who has done a wonderful job to recognize the life and work of Otto Warburg and the beginnings of a discipline that calls us all. Biochemistry is a young science. It is not difficult today to find with the means we have the biographical aspects and works of the precursors. Among them Otto Warburg is in first place or close to it.expressed Martínez.
Dr. Guixé told how this book was created to the attendees. “Reading it generates the Warburg effect that goes far beyond a metabolic condition. I asked Daniela why a book about Warburg and she told me that the idea arose when she found the biography of him written by Hans Krebs, in Osvaldo Cori’s laboratory at Vicuña Mackenna 20. The book was written in German. She proposed to the University Press to do the translation. However, the proposal was ‘why don’t you write a book about him?’, upon realizing that there was an English version of that book.”he maintains.
History of this scientist
Otto Warburg was born on October 8, 1883 in Germany. Emil Warburg, his father, was a great influence as she was one of the most eminent physicists of her time. He was also an outstanding pianist. His mother was a vital woman with an agile mind. In that stimulating environment, young Otto met leading physicists of the time, such as Max Planck and Albert Einstein.
Warburg stands out for his training in chemistry, medicine and physics, being considered a pioneer of biochemistry in the first half of the 20th century. In 1931 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme.
“The book offers us a broad and enjoyable reading not only of the development of the scientific career, but also of the environment in which it developed and how the circumstances of the environment and the teachers shaped that trajectory. There is a concern to develop experiments in a methodical and objective way”details Dr. Guixé in her intervention.
“Without a doubt, we would like the reading of this book by young scientists to be infected with the rigor and meticulousness with which it addressed its experimental challenges. The history of biochemistry is inextricably linked to Otto’s history and this is how the book gives us an interesting look at Warburg’s different contributions to it, such as the study of metabolism in normal and cancerous cells, where he concluded that in cancer cells glucose consumption is several times greater than that of normal cells, even in the presence of oxygen. This is what we know today as the Warburg effect.”added the academic from the Faculty of Sciences.
Other topics that Warburg studied were cellular respiration and photosynthesis, being an advance in describing the oxidation-reduction reactions, which, as he discovered, always occur associated with specific insoluble structures of the cells that he called “pimples” and those we know today correspond to the mitochondria.
Warburg had notable disciples among doctoral students, research assistants, and postdocs. Four of them won the Nobel Prize. “Warburg’s intellectual capacity was combined with an unusual skill in designing, conducting experiments, and developing new methods. “He brought together in one person the knowledge of chemistry and physics.”, added Dr. Guixé. It is worth highlighting the creation of the Warburg manometer, which was designed by him to measure the difference between atmospheric pressure and the pressure of liquids and gases within a closed circuit.
“As an anecdote, it is interesting to mention that one of the first Chilean scientists, Eduardo Cruz Coke, spent three months in the Warburg laboratory, where he met Krebs, bringing the manometer to Chile to the Faculty of Medicine, where Jorge Mardones assembled it”, says the presenter of the book. Otto Warburg died on August 1, 1970 at the age of 86.
Conversation with the author
Among the numerous thanks that Prof. Daniela Seelenfreund made, she mentioned the Faculty and the dean Prof. Pablo Richter for supporting the financing of the book.
How did the idea to write this book come about?
“I found a book in German in the old biochemistry laboratory at Vicuña Mackenna 20. It had some papers with notes inside that belonged to Prof. Osvaldo Cori. I found it something very interesting. He gave me the impression that what he was reading was Cori’s model. There were many Chilean biochemists who trained with other disciples of this same scientist, mainly from the University of Chile. In fact, Fritz Lipmann, one of Warburg’s disciples, who also received the Nobel Prize, trained five Chilean biochemists: Hermann Niemeyer, Osvaldo Cori, Tito Ureta, Jorge Allende and Francisco Orrego, all academics from the University of Chile. .
What similarities do Warburg and Cori have in their biographies?
“It seemed to me that there were some similarities between what I described in the book and Prof. Osvaldo Cori, whom I got to know. I highlight the very chemical rather than biological look and the ability to build your own equipment. The difference was that Cori cared about teaching. Not Warburg. Another difference was that Cori actively participated in scientific policy, being president of Conicyt. Warburg did not participate in these types of instances. Cori did not know Warburg, but trained with one of his disciples. Cori was important for the emergence of biochemistry in Chile. He and his wife, Prof. Aida Traverso, created the biochemistry degree to train researchers in Chile, being the first in the country.”
What were Otto Warburg’s main contributions?
“He worked on very different topics. I highlight topics such as the chemistry behind identifying important molecules, the ability to face a problem, how to ask questions. He studied cancer and thought he had discovered its cause. Although some of his conclusions were later shown to be wrong, he discovered metabolic changes in cancer cells. We now know that these changes are not the cause of cancer, but rather the consequence. However, an academic descendant of his was the one who discovered the real cause of cancer, which is mutations.”
Is Warburg a recognized figure today?
“I would say it was better known before than it is today. The methods he invented were used for a long time, but are no longer used. The things he discovered are at the base of the discipline, those that are no longer mentioned as inventions in the texts. He is most recognized for the concept of the Warburg effect. However, Warburg must be recognized as one of the great precursors of modern biochemistry, even if he was wrong. Making mistakes is part of the investigation. You ask, you try to get an answer, you may interpret it right or wrong. It is a community construction, one contributes, another questions and thus it is corrected. The researchers who trained with Warburg brought that style of work and doing science to their own laboratories, and subsequently trained several Chilean researchers.”
