Eugene Goldwasser
Encyclopedia
Eugene Goldwasser was an American 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:...

 at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 who identified erythropoietin
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...

 (widely known as EPO or Epo), a hormone
Hormone
A hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...

 that plays a vital role in the synthesis of red blood cell
Red blood cell
Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate organism's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood flow through the circulatory system...

s. After sharing the minute quantities that he had been able to isolate with researchers at the biotechnology firm Amgen
Amgen
Amgen Inc. is an international biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Located in the Conejo Valley, Amgen is the world's largest independent biotech firm. The company employs approximately 17,000 staff members. Its products include Epogen, Aranesp, Enbrel, Kineret,...

, that company was able to use genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...

 technology to produce useful amounts of EPO as a drug to treat anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...

 that has achieved substantial financial success, but that has also been used by athletes as a performance-enhancing drug
Performance-enhancing drugs
Performance-enhancing drugs are substances used by athletes to improve their performances in the sports in which they engage.- Types of performance-enhancing drugs :...

.

Early life and education

Goldwasser was born on October 14, 1922, in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and moved with his family to Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 following the collapse of his father's clothing company. He received a scholarship to attend the University of Chicago and worked at the school's defense-oriented toxicity laboratory during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 before earning his undergraduate degree in biochemistry in 1943. Goldwasser served for two years at Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick is a U.S. Army Medical Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center for the United States' biological weapons program ....

, home of the United States biological weapons program, studying anthrax
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...

 after being drafted by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 in 1944. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry in 1950 after returning to the University of Chicago.

Career in biochemistry

Hypotheses had been made in the early 20th century that there was a substance that triggered the body to produce more red blood cells, but no one had been able to identify a material that matched the description. In 1955, hematologist
Hematology
Hematology, also spelled haematology , is the branch of biology physiology, internal medicine, pathology, clinical laboratory work, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases...

 Leon O. Jacobson
Leon O. Jacobson
Dr. Leon Orris Jacobson , worked at the University of Chicago as a researcher and educator who made tremendous contributions to radiology and hematology, with major impacts on chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He was a recipient of the Roughrider award in 1976...

 challenged Goldwasser to begin a search for the red blood cell-promoting substance, a task that Goldwasser assumed could be accomplished in a few months. His initial approach involved the step-by-step removal of different organs from laboratory rat
Laboratory rat
A laboratory rat is a rat of the species Rattus norvegicus which is bred and kept for scientific research. Laboratory rats have served as an important animal model for research in psychology, medicine, and other fields.- Origins :...

s, leading to the conclusion that anemia resulted from a substance produced in the kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...

s. Though the discovery of where the material was produced was made in 1957, it took Goldwasser and his team another 15 years before they were able to isolate eight milligrams of EPO from material that had been precipitated from 2500 litres (5,283.4 US pt) of urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...

 from anemia patients by Japanese researcher Takaji Miyake. Results of Goldwasser's research, which had been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

, were first published in 1977 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry
Journal of Biological Chemistry
The Journal of Biological Chemistry is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905. Since 1925 it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research in any area of biochemistry or molecular biology. The editor-in-chief is...

. University of Chicago biochemist Donald F. Steiner
Donald F. Steiner
Donald F. Steiner is an American biochemist and a professor at the University of Chicago.- Birth and education :Donald F. Steiner was born in 1930 in the United States. He completed his B.S. in Chemistry and Zoology from the University of Cincinnati in 1952. He completed his M.S. in Biochemistry...

 called the discovery "one of the great contributions to science or medicine of the 20th century, comparable to the discovery of insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....

". Goldwasser had submitted a patent disclosure form, though the University of Chicago never pursued a patent.

After providing a sample of the purified EPO to researchers at Amgen, a team there led by Fu-Kuen Lin
Fu-Kuen Lin
Fu-Kuen Lin is an award winning fungi physiologist, nephrologist and hemotologist.Lin received his B.S. from National Taiwan University in 1964 and M.S. in plant pathology in 1967. That year, he moved to the United States to study fungi physiology under Professor David Gottlieb, at the...

 was able to identify and patent the gene that produced EPO and was able to generate useful quantities of human EPO by using genetic engineering techniques to insert the gene into hamster
Hamster
Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....

 cells. After successful tests on patients undergoing dialysis
Dialysis
In medicine, dialysis is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure...

, Epoetin alfa
Epoetin alfa
Epoetin alfa is human erythropoietin produced in cell culture using recombinant DNA technology. It stimulates erythropoiesis and is used to treat anemia, commonly associated with chronic renal failure and cancer chemotherapy. Epoetin is marketed under the trade names Procrit and Epogen. Its...

, marketed by Amgen under the trade name Epogen starting in 1989, became a financial success, generating a billion-dollar market for Amgen and other companies that had developed their own versions of EPO, though Goldwasser would say that "the enormous clinical success of Epo still astonishes me". Goldwasser didn't receive any royalties from Amgen and noted that having received "one percent of one percent of the drug's annual revenues would have funded my lab quite handsomely" before his retirement from the university in 2002. Goldwasser faced criticism for turning over his government-funded research results to Amgen, though he wrote in 1996 that he had received permission from the NIH.

In subsequent years EPO has faced controversy for its use as a performance-enhancing drug, particularly in long-distance bicycle racing
Bicycle racing
Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...

, where participants have been found to have used EPO as a means to increase endurance. Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis is an American retired cyclist who after initially being awarded victory in the 2006 Tour de France was stripped of his title for a doping offense. He was an all-around rider, with special skills in climbing and time-trialing, and is also known to be a very fast descender.Landis...

 admitted to using EPO and other performance-enhancing substances during his professional career, and was stripped of his title
Floyd Landis doping case
The Floyd Landis doping case is a doping scandal that featured Floyd Landis, the initial winner of the 2006 Tour de France. After a meltdown in Stage 16, where he had lost ten minutes, Landis came back, superhumanly, if suspiciously in Stage 17 riding solo and passing his whole team...

 as winner of the 2006 Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

.

A resident of Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...

, Goldwasser died at his home there at the age of 88 on December 17, 2010, due to renal failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...

 that occurred as a complication of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

. He was survived by his wife, Deone Jackman, as well as by three sons, two stepchildren and seven grandchildren. His memoir, A Bloody Long Journey: Erythropoietin (Epo) and the Person Who Isolated It, (ISBN 978-1-4568-5736-3) was published in 2011.
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