From metabolic cycles to compartmentation: another first for Krebs

Abstract

Professor Sir Hans Krebs, who was always referred to as ‘Prof’, is best known for his elucidation of two metabolic cycles: the urea (or ornithine) cycle in 1932 and the tricarboxylic acid (or citric acid or Krebs) cycle in 1937, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize (Physiology) in 1953. The urea cycle was elucidated while he was in Freiburg and the tricarboxylic acid cycle during his time in Sheffield. In 1954, Krebs moved to Oxford where, together with his student Hans Kornberg (later to become yet another Professor Sir Hans), he was soon to elucidate yet another metabolic cycle: the glyoxylate cycle. Thus it was in the 1960s, when Krebs (born 1900) was in his sixties, that the Krebs laboratory in Oxford was one of the premier international centres for metabolic research. Krebs was also Director of the MRC (Medical Research Council) Unit for Research in Cell Metabolism and his group generally comprised some 20 or so researchers. These included the staff of the MRC unit, postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and a generous sprinkling of international visitors, frequently senior scientists spending sabbaticals in the laboratory. Krebs had no problem keeping abreast of the activities of his large laboratory group and made daily rounds, discussing the day’s experiment or yesterday’s results with each person. It was at this time that Dermot Williamson (always known as Derek) and Patricia Lund joined the MRC unit. Figure 1 shows many of the members of the Krebs laboratory in 1967. Krebs had an uncanny knack of attracting bright and committed research technicians. He stimulated their interest in research, mentored them and, if they were so inclined, encouraged them to take research degrees and become independent scientists. Both Derek Williamson and Pat Lund belonged to this tradition. Born in New Zealand, Derek Williamson spent his first 3 years there until his family moved to England. After his secondary education in County Durham, he joined the Krebs laboratory, in Sheffield, in 1946. He was only 16 years old and a junior technician. After his National Service (1950–1952), Derek returned to Sheffield, but, when Krebs was appointed to the Whitley Chair at Oxford in 1954, Derek decided to move to London, where he became Research Technician with Professor Frank Dickens at the Courtauld Institute. He rejoined the Krebs laboratory in 1960 and, in 1963, was encouraged by Krebs to write up his research work for a B.Sc. which was then Oxford’s equivalent of a Masters degree. This was followed by a D.Phil. in 1967. He went on to become a member of the MRC External Scientific Staff and, after Prof’s death in 1981, became Head of the MRC Unit [1]. Derek made many major contributions to metabolic research and there are few modern parallels to his unusual career path of laboratory boy to head of the unit. Derek died in 1998. Pat Lund was originally from North Yorkshire and came to Oxford as Hans Kornberg’s technician in 1957. After 3 years working for Boris Magasanik at Harvard and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), she returned to the U.K. in 1962 and completed her D.Phil. under the supervision of Hans Krebs Figure 1. Some members of the Krebs laboratory in 1967