Robert Brainard Corey (August 19, 1897 – April 23, 1971) was an American biochemist, mostly known for his role in discovery of the α-helix and the β-sheet with Linus Pauling. Also working with Pauling was Herman Branson. Their discoveries were remarkably correct, with even the bond lengths being accurate until about 40 years later. The α-helix and β-sheet are two structures that are now known to form the backbones of many proteins.
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Academic training
A childhood polio victim, Corey received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University (Marsh, p. 52-53).
The findings of α-helix and β-sheet
At Caltech, the trio (Pauling, Corey and Branson) published a series of 8 articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The most revolutionary of the 8 articles in PNAS is the first one, written on February 28, 1951. That date was also Pauling's 50th birthday. It was called "The Structure of Proteins: Two Hydrogen-Bonded Helical Configurations of the Polypeptide Chain". In the paper, one odd thing is that the trio diagrammed the α-helix as a left-handed helix, although it is really a right-handed one. Another odd thing in the paper is that the 3(10) helix is almost never mentioned, although it is very common, while the γ-helix, which was another focus of the paper, is almost never seen.
See also
External links
- The Protein Papers by Christen Brownlee, in PNAS at 100: Classics of the Scientific Literature, special issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Robert Brainard Corey by Richard E. Marsh, Biographical Memoirs V.72 (1997) of the National Academy of Sciences
- Key Participants: Robert B. Corey - It's in the Blood! A Documentary History of Linus Pauling, Hemoglobin, and Sickle Cell Anemia; and Key Participants: Robert B. Corey - Linus Pauling and the Race for DNA: A Documentary History
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