Who is Dr Rita Levi-Montalcini?
Rita Levi-Montalcini, a Nobel Prize-winning neurologist who discovered critical chemical tools that the body uses to direct cell growth and build nerve networks, opening the way for the study of how those processes can go wrong in diseases like dementia and cancer, died on Sunday at her home in Rome. She was 103.
Is Rita Levi-Montalcini still alive?
Deceased (1909–2012)
Rita Levi-Montalcini/Living or Deceased
Who did Rita Levi-Montalcini share the Nobel Prize with?
In 1986, Italian neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini was awarded the Nobel Prize of Medicine or Physiology alongside biochemist Stanley Cohen, for their discovery of nerve growth factors (1-3). She was the fourth woman to ever receive a Nobel prize.
What did Rita Levi-Montalcini discover?
The discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF) by Rita Levi-Montalcini in the 1950s represents an important milestone in the processes that led to modern cell biology. NGF was the first growth factor identified, for its action on the morphological differentiation of neural-crest-derived nerve cells.
Did Rita Levi-Montalcini have siblings?
She had two sisters: Anna, five years older than Rita, and Paola, her twin sister, a popular artist who died on 29 September 2000, age 91.
Is Rita Levi-Montalcini a scientist?
Rita Levi-Montalcini began her scientific career in danger, as a Jew in Fascist Italy. She ended it in triumph, as the neuroembryologist who co-discovered nerve growth factor, a prominent figure in Italian politics, and an active researcher and mentor until her death at the age of 103.
Where did Rita Levi-Montalcini live?
In 1946 Rita Levi-Montalcini was invited to work at Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and remained there for 30 years before finally returning to Italy, where she lived in Rome.
How was NGF discovered?
NGF was discovered through a series of experiments in the 1950s on the development of the chick nervous system. Since its discovery, NGF has been found to act in a variety of tissues throughout development and adulthood. Mouse sarcoma 180 was discovered to have nerve growth properties.
Why is Rita Levi-Montalcini important?
Rita Levi-Montalcini, (born April 22, 1909, Turin, Italy—died December 30, 2012, Rome), Italian American neurologist who, with biochemist Stanley Cohen, shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for her discovery of a bodily substance that stimulates and influences the growth of nerve cells.
Why was Rita Levi-Montalcini important?
Where was Rita Levi-Montalcini born?
Turin, Italy
Rita Levi-Montalcini/Place of birth
Rita Levi-Montalcini was born on April 22, 1909, in Turin, Italy. Rita and her twin sister Paola were the youngest of four children born to Adamo Levi and Adele Montalcini.
Why is NGF important?
The NGF gene provides instructions for making a protein called nerve growth factor beta (NGFβ). This protein is important in the development and survival of nerve cells (neurons), especially those that transmit pain, temperature, and touch sensations (sensory neurons).