Horace Barker

Horace Barker
Born	Horace Albert Barker (1907-11-29)November 29, 1907 Oakland, California,US
Died	December 24, 2000(2000-12-24)(aged 93) Berkeley, California,US
Alma mater	Stanford University(B.S., 1929) (Ph.D., 1933)
Spouse	Margaret McDowell Barker
Awards	National Medal of Science(1968)
Scientific career
Fields	Biochemistry Microbiology
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley
Thesis	The chemistry of egg-albumin with special reference to the phenomenon of heat denaturation(1933)
Doctoral advisor	James William McBain
Other academic advisors	C. B. van Niel Albert Kluyver

Horace Albert "Nook" Barker(November 29, 1907 – December 24, 2000) was an Americanbiochemistandmicrobiologistwho studied the operation of biological and chemical processes in plants, humans and other animals, including usingradioactive tracersto determine the roleenzymesplay in synthesizingsucrose.He was recognized with theNational Medal of Sciencefor his role in identifying an active form ofVitamin B₁₂.

Early life and education

Barker was born on November 29, 1907, inOakland, California.He moved with his family toPalo Alto, Californiawhen he was 11 years old. He spent a year in Germany following high school, learning theGerman languageand absorbing its culture. He attendedStanford University,graduating in 1929 with a bachelor's degree inphysical science,and was awarded aPh.D.in chemistry in 1933.

After graduating from Stanford, he performed a two-year postgraduate fellowship at theHopkins Marine Stationunder the supervision ofmicrobiologistC. B. van Niel,who fostered Barker's interest in botany and taught him techniques for isolating microorganisms. He then spent a year at the Delft Microbiology Laboratory in theNetherlandsunderAlbert Kluyver.

University of California

Barker was hired in 1936 by theUniversity of California, Berkeleyto teach soil microbiology. He was part of a team that developed the use ofCarbon-14as a radioactive tracer, using the technique in 1944 to show how sucrose is synthesized in living cells by enzymes.

Research led by Barker during the 1950s provided insights into the uses of vitamin B₁₂in the body using bacterium he had isolated from mud taken fromSan Francisco Bay.By 1959, through documenting the metabolic flow of the vitamin B₁₂coenzyme, Barker was able to show its role in the body, helping to explain various diseases, such aspernicious anemia,one of a series of conditions resulting from [[vitamin B₁₂deficiency]].In aWhite Houseceremony held on January 17, 1969,U.S. PresidentLyndon Johnsonawarded Barker with theNational Medal of Science"[f]or his profound study of the chemical activities of microorganisms, including the unraveling of fatty acid metabolism and the discovery of the active coenzyme form of vitamin B₁₂."

When the department of biochemistry was established in 1959, he was named as a professor there. He served as the department's chairman in the 1960s, and continued work there for more than a decade after retiring in 1975 when he became anemeritusprofessor. In 1953, he was elected a member of theUnited States National Academy of Sciences.He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1967.

Personal

A resident ofBerkeley, California,Barker died at age 93 on December 24, 2000, due toheart failureat his home there. He had been married for 62 years to his wife, the former Margaret McDowell, at the time of her death in 1995.

Eponyms

• Methanosarcina barkeriSchnellen 1947

Research resources

• Horace Albert Barker Papers, 1933-1992,The Bancroft Library

External links

• National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir