Her name is Gertrude Belle Elion. She received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1988, but she is somewhat unknown, isn't she? She was a woman who, in her time, lived in a man's world. She did not have it easy at all. However, she felt the call of science at 15 and by 19, she had a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Sciences. We are talking about the year 1937, a time when it was not common for women to pursue studies, and she achieved it thanks to a brilliant academic record that allowed her to attend university for free.
And when we say she felt the call so early, it's because her grandfather died of stomach cancer, and it is said that at that moment she declared she would dedicate her life to science and to finding a solution for this disease.
A woman entering the workforce in the 1930s
And if it was unusual for a woman to study, it was even more so for her to end up working as a scientist. She also had a difficult time. She got a job as a laboratory assistant and combined it with being a Chemistry teacher at a high school. She invested what she earned from work into a Master's degree in Chemistry at New York University, and the story takes us to 1939, and thus, to the context of World War II.
First it was her grandfather, then it was her partner
Gertrude Belle Elion was more than ready to enter the workforce, and at that time, her partner died of bacterial endocarditis. And that seems to have been a new impetus for our protagonist, a new impetus to look for work in the world of science.
And, finally, she managed to work for a pharmaceutical laboratory because at that time men were leaving to fight in World War II, and there was a significant shortage of personnel. So Elion was able to access a job to fill the void left by men.
A woman inventor in Medicine
Elion and her colleague studied nucleic acids in normal human cells and compared them with cancer cells, and after much research, they found solutions that could block the growth of bacteria, parasites, or even the cancer cells themselves.
- And that's how they developed the first treatment for leukemia in the late 1940s (Mercaptopurine)
- A drug for gout. A disease that could be fatal for those who had received chemo. (Allopurinol)
- Treatment for malaria (Pyrimethamine)
- Treatments for meningitis and respiratory infections (Trimethoprim)
- The first immunosuppressive agent to prevent transplant rejection
- Antiviral drug for herpes (Acyclovir)
A Lifetime Achievement Award
And so, spending her days among test tubes and without having a doctorate, Gertrude Belle Elion, along with her colleagues, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988. All thanks to her research, which managed to find the differences between the metabolism of a normal cell and a tumor cell. A recognition she received 5 years after her retirement. In addition to this, she obtained three honorary doctorates, was the President of the American Association of Cancer Research, held 45 patents, and the WHO included her medicines on a list of essential drugs.