George Hitchings

[[File:George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion 1988b.jpg|165px|thumb|right|George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion in 1988.]]
{{Biology}}
'''George Herbert Hitchings''' {{lived|April 18, 1905|February 27, 1998}} was an [[American]] scientist and researcher credited with making major breakthroughs in [[rational]] [[drug]] design and [[chemotherapy]]. For his work on drug treatment he was awarded the 1988 [[Nobel Prize]] in Physiology or Medicine with Sir James Black and [[Gertrude Elion]].<ref>"[https://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/march98/hitchings.html George Hitchings]". ''www.washington.edu.'' Retrieved 2020-01-18.</ref> His work was characterized as a major breakthrough in crafting new drugs. Conventional methods had been clumsy and slow, often revolving around trial-and-error methods. Hitchings and Elion studied key differences between [[human]] [[cells]] and [[disease]]-causing pathogenic cells. Their research lead to a new the method in creating drugs more specifically-designed to combat harmful pathogens. 

==Early life and career==
Hitchings grew up in [[Washington]] state and studied [[chemistry]] at the University of Washington graduating cum laude before acquiring his master's degree there and then moving on to Harvard.<ref>"[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1988/hitchings/biographical/ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988]". ''NobelPrize.org.'' Retrieved 2020-01-18.</ref> Hitchings' father, a shipbuilder and community leader in Hoquiam, died when Hitchings was only 12, after an illness that sparked Hitchings' interest in [[medicine]]. When Hitchings was salutatorian at Seattle's Franklin High School, his teacher gave him a biography of [[Louis Pasteur]], who became a role model as a humanitarian and [[scientist]]. In 1942 he joined Wellcome Research Laboratories (now part of GlaxoSmithKline) as Head of the Biochemistry Department.<ref>Hammond, Alexander C. R. "[https://humanprogress.org/article?p=2289 Heroes of Progress, Pt. 33: Hitchings and Elion]". ''Human Progress''. Retrieved 2020-01-18.</ref>

==Research==
Over a span of nearly 40 years, Hitchings worked with Elion. Together they designed a variety of new drugs that achieved their effects by interfering with the replication or other vital functions of specific pathogens (disease-causing agents) or cells.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Herbert-Hitchings George Herbert Hitchings] ''Encyclopedia Brittanica.''</ref> Their work helped  make organ transplants possible, amongst many other things.<ref>Leduff, Charlie (1998-03-02). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/02/us/george-hitchings-92-winner-of-nobel-in-medicine-is-dead.html George Hitchings, 92, Winner Of Nobel in Medicine, Is Dead]". ''The New York Times''. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-18.</ref>

{{quotebox|1=The line of inquiry we had begun in the 1940s [also] yielded new drug therapies for [[malaria]] (pyrimethamine), [[leukemia]] (6-mercaptopurine and thioguanine), gout (allopurinol), organ transplantation (azathioprine) and [[Bacteria|bacterial infections]] (co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim)). The new knowledge contributed by our studies pointed the way for investigations that led to major antiviral drugs for herpes infections (acyclovir) and [[AIDS]] (zidovudine).<ref>"[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1988/hitchings/biographical/ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988]". ''NobelPrize.org.'' Retrieved 2020-01-18.</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[Molecular biology]]
*[[Cell]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

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[[Category:Biologists]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

Categories: Biologists, Physicians, Science, Medicine