Sam Granick
February 16, 1909 - April 29, 1977
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Scientific Discipline: Biochemistry Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1965)
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Sam Granick’s research focused on the pathways of heme and chlorophyll biosynthesis. He showed, using artificially induced mutants of Chlorella, that both heme and chlorophyll are derived from protoporphyrin, a carrier molecule for divalent cations. He examined plant cells with an electron microscope and found that chloroplasts contain multigenic self-replicating nucleic acid, suggesting semi-autonomy. In addition to his work on chloroplasts, he contributed to our knowledge of iron metabolism through the purification of ferritin, an iron storage protein, finding that it contained no nucleic acid as previously thought.
Granick received his B.S., M.S., and PhD in plant physiology from the University of Michigan where he was a Newcomb fellow from 1934 to 1938. After completing his fellowship at the Rockefeller Institute in 1939, he joined the faculty, remaining there until the end of his academic career
