Christian de Duve
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'''Christian René de Duve''' (born [[October 2]], [[1917]]) is an internationally acclaimed [[cytologist]] and [[biochemist]]. De Duve was born in [[Thames-Ditton]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], as a son of [[Belgium|Belgian]] immigrants. They returned to Belgium in [[1920]]. De Duve was educated by the [[Jesuits]] at Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege in [[Antwerp]], before studying at the [[Catholic University of Leuven]], where he became a [[professor]] in [[1947]]. He specialized in subcellular [[biochemistry]] and [[cell biology]] and discovered [[peroxisome]]s and [[lysosome]]s, [[cell (biology)|cell]] [[organelle]]s.
Amongst other subjects, de Duve studied the distribution of [[enzymes]] in [[rat]] [[liver]] cells using [[rate-zonal centrifugation]]. De Duve's work on [[cell fractionation]] provided an insight into the function of cell structures.
In [[1960]], De Duve was awarded the [[Francqui Prize]] for Biological and Medical Sciences. He was awarded the shared [[Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine]] in [[1974]], together with [[Albert Claude]] and [[George E. Palade]], for describing the structure and function of organelles in biological cells. His later years have been mostly devoted to [[origin of life]] studies, which he admits is still a speculative field (see [[thioester]]).
His work has contributed to the emerging consensus that the [[endosymbiotic theory]] is correct; this idea proposes that [[mitochondria]], [[chloroplast]]s, and perhaps other organelles of [[Eukaryote|eukaryotic]] cells originated as [[prokaryote]] [[endosymbiont]]s, which came to live inside eukaryotic cells.
De Duve proposes that [[peroxisome]]s may have been the first endosymbionts, which allowed cells to withstand the growing amounts of free molecular oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Since peroxisomes have no [[DNA]] of their own, this proposal has much less evidence than the similar claims for mitochondria and chloroplasts.
==Bibliography==
*''A Guided Tour of the Living Cell'' ([[1984]]) ISBN 0-7167-5002-3
*''Blueprint For a Cell: The Nature and Origin of Life'' ([[1991]]) ISBN 0-89278-410-5
*''Vital Dust: Life As a Cosmic Imperative '' ([[1996]]) ISBN 0-465-09045-1
*''Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and Meaning'' ([[2002]]) ISBN 0-19-515605-6
*''Singularities: Landmarks on the Pathways of Life'' ([[2005]]) ISBN 978-0-521-84195-5
==See also==
* [[Belgian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology]]
==External links==
*[http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1974/duve-autobio.html Autobiography]
*[http://www.peoplesarchive.com/browse/movies/6523/ Christian de Duve's Life Story] on [[Peoples Archive]]
*[http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/126 Free to view video interview with Christian de Duve] provided by the Vega Science Trust.
{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duve, Christian Rene de}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Belgian academics]]
[[Category:Belgian scientists]]
[[Category:Belgian Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]
[[Category:Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign Members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Leuven alumni before 1968]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Sciences]]
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