Dorothy Mary Hodgkin (12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994)
Dr. Dorothy Hodgkin was a world-renowned scientist and highly respected in the field of X-ray crystallography, the intricate study of the structure of molecules based on light diffraction patterns from crystals exposed to X-rays. She was a pioneer in analytical chemistry for her efforts in uncovering the three-dimensional structure of important biomolecules such as penicillin, vitamin B12, and insulin.
Dorothy was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1910 and was raised in an academic family; her father was an archaeology educator, and her mother was a botanist. She was encouraged from a young age to prioritize her education and was provided the opportunity to be one of only two girls allowed to study chemistry at Sir John Leman Grammar School in Beccles, England. On her 16th birthday her mother gifted Dorothy a book on X-ray crystallography which later became her passion and life’s work. Her first exposure to chemistry came about at the archaeological site of Jerash, Jordan, where she documented the patterns of mosaics from multiple Byzantine-era Churches by creating precise drawings and conducted chemical analyses of glass tesserae. Dorothy Hodgkin became the third woman to graduate from a first-class honours degree in chemistry from Oxford, and after 32 years of dedicated research in advancing the field of X-ray crystallography, she became the third woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for unravelling the structure of vitamin B12.
Her appreciation for X-ray crystallography initiated with her PhD under the supervision of Dr. John Desmond Bernal, at Oxford University, where she discovered the structure of macromolecules (proteins, lipids, etc.) such as pepsin (one of the main digestive enzymes secreted in the stomach lining) and sterols such as cholesteryl iodide (a cholesterol and hormone precursor). In addition to her many achievements, Dorothy Hodgkin was a wife and a loving mother of three girls. She was always an inspiration to her students and colleagues. Her ambitious nature was well known and encouraged; Dorothy was first provided a crystalline sample of insulin (a peptide hormone secreted by β-cells in the pancreas) by Dr. Robert Robinson at a time when both X-ray crystallography and computational techniques had limited capabilities. Dorothy, however, was intrigued by the complexity of the insulin hormone and dared to take on the challenge. After 35 years of impeccable dedication, her efforts along with her team of international scientists were successful in confirming the exact structure of insulin using X-ray crystallography. Her work was essential to the continuing advances in diabetes research to date, enabling the development of alternative drug options and the mass production of insulin for therapeutic use in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin with models and crystallography images of the molecules she studied Photo: Corbin O'Grady Studio/Science Source
Dorothy Hodgkin provided invaluable advice to other labs specializing in insulin research and gave many talks around the world on insulin and its significance for the future of diabetes research. She spent her last few years in a wheelchair due to her advanced rheumatoid arthritis but remained an active member of her field. Dr. Dorothy Hodgkin died on July 29, 1994 and will forever be one of the most valued scientists for her contributions to structural biology and diabetes research.
— Written by Matina Movahedi