May 12, 1910: British Biochemist Dorothy Hodgkin Was Born

Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (May 12, 1910 – July 29, 1994) was a British biochemist. Hodgkin began the research in X-ray crystallography during her studies at Somerville College, Oxford. She promoted the use of advanced X-ray crystallography to determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules. Some of the most influential findings was confirming the structure of penicillin and deciphering structure of vitamin B12. For this she was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1969, after 35 years of work and 5 years after receiving the Nobel Prize, she finally deciphered the structure of insulin. X-ray crystallography became a widely used tool in molecular biology, and played a crucial role in determining important structure of many biomolecules later. Dorothy is considered one of the pioneer scientists in the field of X-ray crystallography of biomolecules.

Reference
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1964/hodgkin-bio.html

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