Horace Barker
Encyclopedia
Horace Albert "Nook" Barker (November 29, 1907 – December 24, 2000) was an American
biochemist
and microbiologist
who studied the operation of biological and chemical processes in plants, humans and other animals, including using radioactive tracer
s to determine the role enzyme
s play in synthesizing sucrose
. He was recognized with the National Medal of Science
for his role in identifying an active form of Vitamin B12
.
. He moved with his family to Palo Alto, California
when he was 11 years old. He spent a year in Germany following high school, learning the German language
and absorbing its culture. He attended Stanford University
, graduating in 1929 with a bachelor's degree in physical science
and was awarded a Ph.D.
in chemistry in 1933.
After graduating from Stanford, he performed a two-year postgraduate fellowship at the Hopkins Marine Station
under the supervision of microbiologist
C. B. van Niel, who fostered Barker's interest in botany and taught him techniques for isolating microorganisms. He then spent a year at the Delft Microbiology Laboratory in the Netherlands
under Albert Kluyver
.
to teach soil microbiology. He was part of a team that developed the use of Carbon-14
as a radioactive tracer, using the technique in 1944 to show how sucrose is synthesized in living cells by enzymes.
Research led by Barker during the 1950s provided insights into the uses of vitamin B12 in the body using bacterium he had isolated from mud taken from San Francisco Bay
. By 1959, through documenting the metabolic flow of the vitamin B12 coenzyme, Barker was able to show its role in the body, helping to explain various diseases, such as pernicious anemia
, one of a series of conditions resulting from vitamin B12 deficiency
. In a White House
ceremony held on January 17, 1969, U.S. President
Lyndon Johnson awarded Barker with the National Medal of Science
"[f]or his profound study of the chemical activities of microorganisms, including the unraveling of fatty acid metabolism and the discovery of the active coenzyme form of vitamin B12."
When the department of biochemistry was established in 1959, he was named as a professor there. He served as the department's chairman in the 1960s, and continued work there for more than a decade after retiring in 1975 when he became an emeritus
professor. In 1953, he was elected a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1967.
, Barker died at age 93 on December 24, 2000, due to heart failure at his home there. He was survived by two daughters, a son and four grandchildren. He had been married for 62 years to his wife, the former Margaret McDowell, at the time of her death in 1995.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
and microbiologist
Microbiologist
A microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
who studied the operation of biological and chemical processes in plants, humans and other animals, including using radioactive tracer
Radioactive tracer
A radioactive tracer, also called a radioactive label, is a substance containing a radioisotope that is used to measure the speed of chemical processes and to track the movement of a substance through a natural system such as a cell or tissue...
s to determine the role enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
s play in synthesizing sucrose
Sucrose
Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...
. He was recognized with the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
for his role in identifying an active form of Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12, vitamin B12 or vitamin B-12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins...
.
Early life and education
Barker was born on November 29, 1907 in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. He moved with his family to Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
when he was 11 years old. He spent a year in Germany following high school, learning the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and absorbing its culture. He attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, graduating in 1929 with a bachelor's degree in physical science
Physical science
Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences...
and was awarded a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in chemistry in 1933.
After graduating from Stanford, he performed a two-year postgraduate fellowship at the Hopkins Marine Station
Hopkins Marine Station
Hopkins Marine Station is the marine laboratory of Stanford University. It is located ninety miles south of the university's main campus, in Pacific Grove, California on the Monterey Peninsula, adjacent to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is home to nine research laboratories and a fluctuating...
under the supervision of microbiologist
Microbiologist
A microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
C. B. van Niel, who fostered Barker's interest in botany and taught him techniques for isolating microorganisms. He then spent a year at the Delft Microbiology Laboratory in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
under Albert Kluyver
Albert Kluyver
Albert Jan Kluyver was a Dutch microbiologist and biochemist.In 1926 Kluyver and Hendrick Jean Louis Donker published the now classic paper, "Die Einheit in der Biochemie" , a paper helped establish Kluyver's vision that, at a biochemical level, all organisms are unified...
.
University of California
Barker was hired in 1936 by the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
to teach soil microbiology. He was part of a team that developed the use of Carbon-14
Carbon-14
Carbon-14, 14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with a nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues , to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological...
as a radioactive tracer, using the technique in 1944 to show how sucrose is synthesized in living cells by enzymes.
Research led by Barker during the 1950s provided insights into the uses of vitamin B12 in the body using bacterium he had isolated from mud taken from San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. By 1959, through documenting the metabolic flow of the vitamin B12 coenzyme, Barker was able to show its role in the body, helping to explain various diseases, such as pernicious anemia
Pernicious anemia
Pernicious anemia is one of many types of the larger family of megaloblastic anemias...
, one of a series of conditions resulting from vitamin B12 deficiency
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Vitamin B12 deficiency or hypocobalaminemia is a low blood level of vitamin B12, it can cause permanent damage to nervous tissue as a long term effect. Vitamin B12 was discovered from its relationship to the disease pernicious anemia, which is an autoimmune disease that destroys parietal cells in...
. In a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
ceremony held on January 17, 1969, U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lyndon Johnson awarded Barker with the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
"[f]or his profound study of the chemical activities of microorganisms, including the unraveling of fatty acid metabolism and the discovery of the active coenzyme form of vitamin B12."
When the department of biochemistry was established in 1959, he was named as a professor there. He served as the department's chairman in the 1960s, and continued work there for more than a decade after retiring in 1975 when he became an emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
professor. In 1953, he was elected a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1967.
Personal
A resident of Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, Barker died at age 93 on December 24, 2000, due to heart failure at his home there. He was survived by two daughters, a son and four grandchildren. He had been married for 62 years to his wife, the former Margaret McDowell, at the time of her death in 1995.
Research resources
- Horace Albert Barker Papers, 1933-1992, The Bancroft Library