Otto Heinrich Warburg

Otto Heinrich Warburg (October 8, 1883 - August 1, 1970) was a German chemist. After earning his doctorate degrees in medicine and chemistry, he started to investigate how oxygen is consumed by cells in a living organism. His studies led him to identify the role of the cytochromes.

He won the 1931 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the respiratory enzyme.

Cancer
In the 1920s, Warburg and his colleagues observed that tumors take up higher amounts of glucose than their surrounding tissues. Although consuming glucose is helpful for mammals because it is a nutrient, tumor cells consume too much glucose despite having working mitochondria and enough presence of oxygen. This observation is called the Warburg effect.

Following this observation, Warburg and his colleagues concluded: that to kill a tumor cell, it must be deprived of glucose.

Private life
Otto Warburg was gay, his partner was Jacob Heiss.

References

 Other websites 
 The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer
 Excerpt from The Warburgs by Ron Chernow pgs. 539-541
 Website of the Otto Warburg Medal
 Fpriz

Category:1883 births
Category:1970 deaths
Category:German chemists
Category:German Nobel Prize winners
Category:LGBT Nobel Prize winners