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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
Abri;t 5, ~ 9 ~ 8-December 29, ~ 999
BY HERBERT WEISSBACH AND BERNHARD WITKOP
SIDNEY UDENFRIEND S PARENTS emigrated to the United
States from an Austro-Polish region in central Eu-
rope in 1913. They had three children, the oldest was Sidney,
who was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 5, 1918.
After attending public schools in Brooklyn Uclenfrienc! en-
terecl the City College of New York (CCNY) in 1935. At that
time CCNY was the ciream for so many of the immigrant
parents who wantec! their chiTciren to obtain a college eclu-
cation. Supported by public funcis, with no tuition, CCNY
proviclecl that opportunity for those students who couIcl pass
the rigid requirements for entrance. The Chemistry De-
partment was well recognized in the field of physiological
chemistry (or biochemistry) thanks in large part to Ben-
jamin Harrow, who wrote a widely used textbook.
Harrow hacl a great influence on UclenfriencI, en cl after
graduation in 1939 Uclenfriencl was set on a career in bio-
chemistry and determined to go to graduate school. In 1940
he was accepted at New York University Graduate School in
the Department of Biology working with Kenneth BlancharcI.
At nights he hac! a position with the New York City Depart-
ment of Health directing other graduate students in carry-
ing out Wasserman tests on draftees for the Army. In 1942
271
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272
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
he received his M.S. degree and with the country at war, he
took a position as a biochemist in the New York University
malaria program at Goldwater Memorial Hospital in New
York City. James Shannon directed this program, and
Udenfriend was placed in a group headed by Bernard B.
("Steve") Brodie. His research involved developing new ana-
Tytical methods for drugs and studying drug metabolism
(1943~. The malaria program was considered vital defense
research and Udenfriend was deferred from the draft, and
obtained valuable research experience in this exciting envi-
ronment until the end of the war. During this neriod at
~ . . .
- - ~ - -- a
Goldwater he married Shirley Reidel. They remained to-
gether for 56 years, until his death in 1999, and they had
two children, daughter Aliza and son Elliot.
In the fall of 1945 he returned to New York University
to complete his graduate studies, initially working with Severo
Ochoa in the Department of Biochemistry of the Medical
School. Ochoa left the department after one year, and
Udenfriend changed mentors and continued his thesis work
with Albert Keston. Together they developed the isotope-
derivative method for the assay of amino acids and for de-
termining amino terminal residues in proteins (1949~. He
received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from New York Univer-
sity in 1948 and accepted a position as instructor in Carl
Corks Biochemistry Department at Washington University
in St. Louis. Udenfriend could not imagine, as he and his
wife Shirley left for St. Louis, that several of the scientists
with whom he had interacted at Goldwater Memorial and
New York University, including Shannon, Brodie, Julius
AxeIrod, John Burns, and Ochoa, would cross his path again
in the years to come.
The Department of Biochemistry at Washington Univer-
sity, headed by Nobel laureate Carl Cori, was one of the
most prestigious biochemistry departments in the country.
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
273
Udenfriend applied his isotope-derivative methodology to
enzymes that were uncler investigation in the Cori labora-
tory. One of his close colleagues cluring that period was Sill
Velick, en c! their studies resultec! in several papers on amino
acid analysis en cl protein N-terminal analysis ~ ~ 95 I, I-2) .
On April 7, 1949, the New York Times informal the
public on the appointment of James Augustin Shannon as
associate director in charge of research at the National Heart
Institute created in June 1948 by an Act of Congress signecl
by President Truman. This was the beginning of the mete-
oric rise of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), of which
Shannon became director in 1955, from a routine govern-
ment laboratory to the woricl's center of biomeclical science
Uclenfriencl received the letter of invitation to join
Shannon's expanding research team in 1950 while in St.
Louis. His answer when he asker! Cori for acivice was: "If
you join a little known government laboratory, this will be
the end of your scientific career!" At that time Uclenfriencl
also hac! an application pencling for an assistant professor-
ship at Columbia University, with little chance of success.
So he clicl not hesitate to ignore Cori's acivice en cl accepted
the position of biochemist (at the GS-13 level) in the Labo-
ratory of Chemical Pharmacology uncler his oIcl boss Broclie
in the National Heart Institute, which started in Builcling 3
on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. By the early
1950s NIH hacl attracted a large group of scientists from
GoIc~water Memorial Hospital, in aciclition to Shannon en cl
Broclie. At that time NIH was still a flecigling research cen-
ter, but the scientific talent present in Builcling 3 in the
early 1950s was extraordinary.) In AxeIrod's words: "Never
hac! such a small group of promising scientists reacher! such
Olympic heights."
In a letter ciatecl June 5, 1950, Shannon informal one
of us (B.W.) of the complementarily of current projects at
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274
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Harvarc! University with those of UclenfriencI, en c! so it hap-
penecl that Uclenfriencl became a colleague en cl friend un-
til his passing. In 1953 one of us (H.W.) was recruited by
Uclenfrienc! from his alma mater, CCNY, en c! became his
first Ph.D. student, thanks to a graduate program that
Uclenfriencl helpecl establish between the Broclie laboratory
at NIH en c! the Departments of Biochemistry en c! Pharma-
cology at George Washington University. To a young graclu-
ate student the quality of science en cl the excitement en cl
talent that surrounclec! him in Uclenfriencl's laboratory en c!
all of Building 3 left a lasting impression never to be equaled.
In this convivial atmosphere at NIH Shannon initiated a
weekly interclisciplinary seminar supplemented! by more re-
laxecl gatherings of the "Appliecl Statistics Club," a euphe-
mism for the poker games with high stakes, where Irish
Mist was server! uncler the motto "The Irish never missecI!"
lust as Shannon never forgot his famous mentor Homer
Smith, so Uclenfriencl acknowlecigecl throughout his scien-
tific lifetime that he stool! on the broac! shouiclers of Shan-
non. On the occasion of a festive banquet of the Commit-
tee for the Weizmann Institute in New York, "godfathers"
UclenfriencI, AxeirocI, en c! Witkop cleciclec! to move the au-
thorities to name the pilIarecl central administrative builcI-
ing, referred to as Building I, the James Augustine Shan-
non burbling. After high-level en c! congressional cleliberative
clelays a solemn celebration in the presence of a smiling
Shannon prececlecl the official christening on January IS,
1983. This was the first en c! unfortunately the last time that
an NIH builcling was namecl after a scientist en cl not a mem-
ber of Congress.
Of the more whimsical talks on this occasion Hans Stetten
compared the Shannon building at NIH to the CNS with
numerous afferent en cl efferent channels, which Shannon
successfully controlled in spotting action potentials amidst
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
275
much background! noise. Like Ben Franklin he Tookoc! for
helpful temperature-clepenclent currents to move the large
NIH vessel through stormy seas en cl to avoid unfavorable
counter currents the same way as Franklin hac! acivisec! trans-
atIantic shipping in 1786 (Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society 2 ~ ~ 786) :294-329) . Measuring the "tem-
perature" on the "climate of expectancy" in institutes en c!
laboratories en cl at the same time respecting their integrity
en cl inclepenclence was Shannon's style, en cl therefore, "The
style is the man." Hans Stetten later became the first chair
of the Scientific Advisory Board to Uclenfriencl at the Roche
Institute of Molecular Biology.
The transition of pharmacology, based on physiological
evaluation, to a science basecl on quantitative analysis using
exact colorimetric, fluorescence, or raclioactive-isotope meth-
ocis gave Broclie's laboratory the title " chemical pharma-
cology" en cl goes back in part to investigations by Uclenfriencl
with Keston and Velick. Udenfriend always believed, regardless
of the project, that the time best spent was working out a
rapid en cl sensitive assay. Here we also have the beginning
of research that usecl isotopically labelecl substrates to quan-
titatively determine enzyme activity, which lee! to the clis-
covery of the famous "NIH shift," as cliscussecl below.
During the 1950s hyciroxylation was a common theme
in Uclenfriencl's research, en c! it was cluring that perioc!
that he became especially interested in aromatic hydroxyla-
tion. His first studies on the enzymatic conversion of phe-
nylalanine to tyrosine were done with Jack Cooper (1952),
and this research soon broadened to include studies on
tryptophan hyciroxylation en cl the biosynthesis of both nore-
pinephrine en c! serotonin, en c! later proline hyciroxylation
and collagen synthesis. He was intrigued by the discovery of
serotonin, which was isolated, identified, and crystallized in
1948 by Maurice Rapport in the laboratory of Irvine Page,
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276
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
who was then the director of the Research Division of the
Clevelancl Clinic. These collaborative studies clevelopecl into
both personal en cl productive relations between the two
groups. The first step in the serotonin biosynthetic pathway
stucliecl in cletail was the conversion of 5-hyciroxytryptophan
(5HTP) to serotonin ~ ~ 953, I, ~ 954, ~ ~ At first it was thought
that this enzyme was distinct from the clecarboxylase that
usecl clihyciroxy-phenylalanine (DOPA) as substrate, but upon
purification the enzyme, callecl aromatic amino acid clecar-
boxylase, was shown to be able to clecarboxylate not only
5HTP and DOPA but also tryptophan, tyrosine, and pheny-
lalanine, although to a lesser extent.
By ~ 953 it became clear that serotonin biosynthesis in-
volvecl two steps, hyciroxylation to 5HTP en cl clecarboxyla-
tion to serotonin. By then it was also apparent that seroto-
nin was not only a neurotransmitter but hac! a role as a
vasoconstrictor en cl potentially other roles because of its
high concentration in both platelets en cl intestinal mucosa.
This surge in the central en c! peripheral importance of se-
rotonin lecl to extensive basic en cl clinical investigations in
which Uclenfriencl en cl his colleagues or clisciples, such as
Herb Weissbach, Walter Lovenberg, ETwood Titus, and the
clinical group heaclecl by Albert Sjoercisma, were involved.
Carcinoicl syndrome is just one example of the productive
collaboration between the Uclenfrienc! en c! Sjoercisma group.
These tumors produce large amounts of serotonin that cause
the gastrointestinal symptoms en cl blushing seen in these
patients. Weissbach had already developed an assay for 5-
hydroxyindole acetic acid (5HIAA), the primary urinary
metabolite of serotonin. Thus a simple diagnostic test for
the malignant carcinoic! syndrome was clevelopec! baser! on
the determination of 5HIAA in urine (1955,1~. An interest-
ing siclelight to these studies was the observation that
Weissbach was routinely running high levels of 5HIAA in
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
277
his urine while others in the lab hac! normal levels. There,
of course, was concern that he might have a carcinoicl tu-
mor until the high 5HIAA levels were tracecl to his ciaily
ingestion of bananas that contain high levels of serotonin
en cl other amines. This work was extenclecl to other fruits
en cl vegetables, which brought Uclenfriencl into contact with
nonscientists like the president of the Uniter! Fruit Com-
pany, which lecl to an award to Uclenfriencl en cl Sjoercisma
sponsored by Unitecl Fruit.
The neec! to localize en c! assay serotonin was one of the
reasons that Robert Bowman, the chief of the Laboratory of
Technical Development, helpecl Sill to design a spectro-
fluorometer (SPF) with quartz optics that not only extenclec!
fluorescence assay into the ultraviolet region but also per-
mittecl one to change both the activation en cl fluorescent
wavelengths to achieve increaser! sensitivity en c! much higher
specificity (1955,2~. The initial instrument, put together by
Bowman using some parts from an Army en cl Navy store in
Bethesda, took up half a laboratory en c! because there was
no shielcl to prevent room light from activating the SPF
photomultiplier, the room hacl to be kept dark cluring the
measurements. Using this instrument the sensitivity of the
serotonin assay increased by orders of magnitude and it was
now possible to assay enclogenous serotonin in virtually any
tissue (1955,3~. This ciramatically changer! the research ef-
forts en cl opened up a new dimension in biogenic amine
research. The clevelopment by the Aminco Company of a
small well-clesignec! SPF (caller! the Amino-Bowman SPF)
also macle it possible for the scientific community to have
access to this new instrument. Numerous assays were clevel-
oped for all sorts of compounds using the SPF as described
in the book Uclenfriencl first publishecl on fluorescence as-
say in biology en cl medicine in 1962, with a second eclition
in 1969. How this story evolves! in 1955 is also clescribec! by
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278
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Uclenfrienc! in a nostalgic retrospection 40 years later pub-
lishecl in Protein Science (4~19951:542-51~. In a surprising
about-face the mentor-clisciple role with Siciney Velick was
reverser! when the two Sicis collaborates! on the use of the
SPF on novel en cl previously inaccessible problems such as
enzyme-co enzyme complexes or antigen-antibocly in terac-
hons.
Several Nobel Prize winners have reliecl on the SPF as
an inclispensable tool. In collaborative studies AxeIrocl iclen-
tifiec! labile metabolites of lysergic acic! cliethylamicle (LSD),
mescaline, en cl norepinephrine. In AxeIrocl's worcis,
The SPF made it possible to measure noradrenaline and serotonin . . .
practically. This changed the direction of the whole field of neurobiology.
Quantitive studies established the relationship of the level of these trans-
mitters to certain mental illnesses and aided in the development of mental
tranquilizer and energizer drugs. Continued studies in this area will yield
additional information on the basis for mental illness.
The aciage "Transmission is as important as discovery"
couIcl be appliecl to the time that Uclenfriencl spent as a
graduate student with Ochoa in the Department of Bio-
chemistry at NYU Meclical School in 1946. Uclenfrienc! be-
came aware that hydroxyproline was uniquely present in
collagen from his earlier clays at NYU, since Joseph Bunim,
a professor at the NYU Meclical School, hac! impresser! on
him how collagen was intimately involvecl in the health en cl
disease of connective tissue, in arthritis en cl other clisor-
clers. Bunim en c! Stetten soon joiner! NIH at the Institute
of Experimental Biology, which was not accepted by Con-
gress as a serious "disease" en cl so became the National
Institute of Arthritis en c! Metabolic Diseases (NIAMD).
That the hyciroxylation of proline floes not occur in the
free form, but at some step in the formation of collagen
was the discovery of Marjorie ("Marnie") Stetten en c! in-
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
279
spires! UclenfriencI, aireacly involves! in hyciroxylation reac-
tions, to pinpoint the exact step at which proline was hy-
ciroxylatecI. Uclenfriencl hacl the goocl fortune of having
Beverly Peterkofsky join the laboratory at that time.
Peterkofsky, a graduate student with Ochoa at NYU, movecl
to NIH when her husband Alan Peterkofsky accepted a po-
sition in the NIAMD. As Uclenfrienc! sail! of Beverly
Peterkofsky, "It was one of the best things that ever hap-
penecl to me." She finished her graduate studies in
Uclenfriencl's lab, where she obtainer! a cell-free system from
chick embryos ~ ~ 96 ~ ~ that incorporated cis-and trans-4-H3-
L-proline into pepticle-bouncl hyciroxyproline in a front-sicle
clisplacement with complete retention of configuration at
C-4 (1964~. This reaction was comparable to other enzymes,
which clirectly use molecular oxygen in the formation of
hydroxylated products. Years later, in 1975, at a Collagen
Symposium at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology,
Uclenfriencl fancily remembered these early events in the
collagen saga that was completer! by Darwin Prockop, an-
other of Uclenfriencl's students. A major discovery was the
fincling that alpha-ketoglutarate was the cofactor of proline
hyciroxylase en c! of a totally new class of enzymes. This en-
ablecl Prockop to study in cletail the nature of the hyciroxy-
lase en cl of the transformation of "protocolIagen" into col-
lagen. Car! Piez at NIH then carrier! out a kinetic stucly of
collagen biosynthesis, en cl Prockop showocl a role for hy-
ciroxyproline in stabilizing the triple helix of collagen that
Lubert Stryer in his famous textbook Bio-Chemistry likenec!
to a Bach fugue. Prockop continual his studies on collagen
after leaving the Uclenfriencl lab en cl moving to Philaclel-
phia, where he shower! that mutations in the genes for col-
lagen, caused osteogenesis imperfects, or brittle bone dis-
ease in chilciren, or dwarfism (chonciroclisplasias), not to
mention the role of collagen in more common syndromes,
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280
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
such as osteoporosis en c! osteoarthritis. These insights rounc!
out the clinical observation by Uclenfriencl en cl Sjoercisma
of the increased excretion of hyciroxyproline in Marfan's
syndrome, which goes back to 1958 en c! even further when
we consider Egypt's eighteenth dynasty with Amenopsis en cl
Tutankhamen being possible victims of this clisorcler.
As early as 1953 Uclenfrienc! en c! Samuel Bessman pub-
lishecl on the hyciroxylation of phenylalanine in patients
with the genetic disease pheny~pyruvic oligophrenia, called
phenylketonuria or PKU (1953,2~. This work prececlec! the
exhaustive research on phenylalanine hyciroxylase by NIH
colleague en cl friend Seymour Kaufman that extenclecl over
20 years. A mocle! system for aromatic hyciroxylation pub-
lishecl in 1954 with Broclie en cl AxeIrocl was intenclecl to
throw some light on the mechanism of this oxidation
(1954,2~. Witkop informer! Uclenfrienc! that his system con-
sisting of oxygen, ferrous ion, en cl ascorbic acicl in the pres-
ence of ethylenecliaminetetracetic acicl (EDTA) is a moclifi-
cation of a system that Heinrich Wielanc! clescribec! for the
oxidation of formic acicl by ferrous ion, clihyciroxymaleic
acicI, an agent forming metal complexes en cl oxygen, as
mentioner! in his Silliman memorial lectures (Yale Univer-
sity Press, 1932, p. 86~. "Progress is tradition preserved."
Curiously enough this rediscovery went into the literature
as "Uclenfriencl's reagent" (Michael B. Smith, Organic Syn-
thesis, McGraw-Hill, 2002, p. 296~. Here we deal with the
name game (Alex Nickon, Modern Coinec! Terms en c! Their
Origins, Pergamon Press, ~ 987) to which we will return
subsequently. There is a similarity of this Wieland-Udenfriend
system with the requirements of proline hyciroxylase for
alpha-ketoglutarate, ferrous ion, ascorbate en c! oxygen as
founcl in ~ 966 ~ ~ 966, ~ ~ . The years ~ 966 en cl ~ 967 were the
time when insight into the mechanism of hyciroxylation was
obtained because of the availability of a tritiated substrate,
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
289
hyciroxylase were involves! in the regulation of norepineph-
rine synthesis. During this period his love en cl knack of
cleveloping assays lecl to the use of fluorescamine as a sensi-
tive reagent for the assay of amino acids, peptizes, en c!
proteins (1973~. The clevelopment of the fluorescamine as-
say macle it possible to detect small amounts of peptizes
en c! proteins cluring purification en c! was especially valu-
able in Uclenfriencl's studies on the enkephalins, opioicl
peptizes, as well as the separation en cl isolation of various
species of natural oc-interferon by HPLC.
The studies on interferon deserve special attention, for
this was the first example of how research in molecular
biology prover! valuable to the company. The interferon
project was initiated at RIMB by Pestka, who felt that this
naturally occurring protein might have both antiviral en cl
antitumor activity. In order to clone the gene for this
chemokine it was necessary to purify it first from white bloocl
cells en cl obtain a partial amino acid sequence. The lack of
large amounts of cells en c! the realization that there may be
a family of interferons macle the task much more clifficult.
Without the analytical procedures that were available in
Uclenfriencl's laboratory it is cloubtfuT that the isolation of
the first natural interferon species wouIcl have been achieved
so quickly. Once the purification was achieved the sequenc-
ing en c! cloning of an interferon gene was accomplishes! in
Pestka's laboratory. By the early 1980s, in collaboration with
scientists at Genentech, oc-interferon became the first Roche
cirug proclucec! by recombinant DNA technology. It server!
as a prototype for other biotechnology products (e.g.,
interIeukin-2), and it is well accepted that the RIMB was
the prime factor in making Roche one of the first, if not
the first, large pharmaceutical companies to move into bio-
technology. The influence that the RIMB hacl on the course
of Roche research was living proof of Uclenfriencl's vision
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
of the role of the institute when it was first conceiver! in
1967.
In 1983 at the age of 65, Uclenfriencl stepped clown as
director of the RIMB, en c! the reins were passer! to Herb
Weissbach. UclenfriencI, of course, was not really to retire
en cl continual to direct a productive laboratory. His pri-
mary research cluring the late 19SOs en c! early 199Os cen-
terecl on alkaline phosphatase en cl its attachment to the
cell membrane by a phosphaticlylinositol containing a gly-
colipic! anchor. Uclenfriencl's studies helpec! to eTuciciate
the biogenesis of this unioue linkage. cleavage. and oro-
cessin~ of the anchored proteins.
- -a ~ - -a -
Like the other scientists at the RIMB, many of them
younger aciclitions to the staff, he was looking forward to
productive years at the Roche Institute. However, Hoffmann-
La Roche, although one of the major large pharmaceutical
companies in the world, was facing financial constraints
that were initially apparent after the expiration of the Valium
patent in the early 19SOs. By 1994 major Tong-term cleci-
sions were being macle about the future direction of the
company research, en cl to the surprise of the RIMB staff
Weissbach, who was director at the time, was informer! that
the RIMB wouIcl be phasecl out. Weissbach hacl the un-
pleasant task of terminating the institute in a manner that
was least destructive to the institute staff. For both Weissbach
en cl Uclenfriencl this was the most clifficult period in their
long careers. What they hacl started together almost 30 years
ago was coming to an end. Weissbach worked with Roche
management to insure that all of the members of the insti-
tute would leave with their equipment, as well as some sup-
port if they were moving to a university position. It took
almost two years for everyone in the institute to be placecI.
At times Udenfriend found it difficult to deal with the
clismantTing of the institute, which hac! meant so much to
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
29
him, although he en c! Weissbach kept in touch cluring the
long negotiations. By December 1995, about a year after
the initial announcement of the closing of the RIME, most
of the institute staff hac! left. Weissbach hac! cleciclec! he
wouIcl not leave until everyone was placecI, en cl still main-
tainecl a functioning laboratory. He wouIcl soon leave the
institute buckling, which was being closecI, en c! move to
another location within Roche. Dreaciful as the closing of
RIME was for UclenfriencI, in December of 1995 he wouIcl
face a major unexpected! challenge that wouic! obscure all
other concerns.
Early in that month Uclenfriencl en cl his wife, Shirley,
hac! stopper! at a pharmacy in Ceciar Grove, New Jersey, to
pick up a prescription. He had parked facing a brick wall
en cl put the car in reverse as he was preparing to return
home. What happened! next is still not clear. It appears that
when the car was put into drive, it acceleratecl rapicIly en cl
crashed into the brick wall some 30 feet in front of the car.
Both Uclenfrienc! en c! Shirley sufferer! multiple fractures,
en cl Uclenfriencl was in a coma for several clays after the
accident. Although both wouIcl survive the accident, in that
one split seconc! their lives were irreversibly changed. After
months of rehabilitation they both were finally able to re-
turn to their home. Weissbach hacl set aside an office for
Uclenfrienc! in his new space at Roche, en c! Uclenfrienc!
wouIcl come in about once a week, more to chat with
Weissbach than to clo science. By the fall of 1996 everyone
in the institute hac! been placecI, en c! Weissbach was plan-
ning on closing clown his laboratory in December en cl relo-
cate to a position at Floricia AtIan tic University. The equip-
ment was being moved on a dreary, damp Saturday in
December of 1996, and Weissbach, there alone, was un-
aware that Udenfriend had made it a point to come in that
day, since this was the last day of the RIMB. Weissbach did
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
not have to ask Uclenfrienc! why he hac! botherec! to come.
Uclenfriencl's first worcis were, " We started this institute
together en cl I wanted to be here when it enclecI." By noon
the two left the buckling in the freight elevator, through
the loacling clock. They realizecl that for the first time in
more than 40 years their career paths wouIcl diverge.
The reasons for the clemise of the Roche Institute of
Molecular Biology are still not entirely clear. The end of
this worIcI-renownecl research center that housecl so many
outstanding investigators touches at the root of the reasons
for research support that perhaps was expressed nowhere
better than by Arthur Kornberg (Nobel Prize, 1959~.
The difficulty with research support in our society, I have come to realize,
is the failure to understand the nature and importance of basic research.
This failure can be seen among members of the lay public, political lead-
ers, physicians, and even scientists themselves. Most people are not pre-
pared for the time-scale of basic research and the need for a critical mass
of collective effort. Fragments of knowledge [unwelcome] and unexploited
are lost, as were Gregor Mendel's basic genetic discoveries. The vast major-
ity of legislators and some scientific directors cannot accept the seeming
irrelevance of basic research. Were there a record of research grants in the
Stone Age, it would likely show that major grants were awarded for propos-
als to build better stone axes and that critics of the time ridiculed a tiny
grant to someone fooling around with bronze and iron. People do not
realize that when it comes to arguing their case for more funding, scien-
tists who do the basic research are the least articulate, least organized, and
least temperamentally equipped to justify what they are doing. In society
where selling is so important, where the medium is the message, these
handicaps can spell extinction.
Uclenfriencl was an outstanding researcher en cl teacher
but perhaps his greatest contribution to science was in es-
tablishing the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, en c!
cluring his tenure as director, in creating one of the out-
stancling inclustry-supportecl biological research institutes in
the woricI. The success of the Roche Institute is not mea-
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
293
surer! only by the papers publisher! or the accomplishments
of the incliviclual scientists or the impact on the company.
What will be its greatest legacy is the large number of indi-
vicluals trainee! at the institute, scatterer! throughout the
worIcI, who remain to this clay a living reminder of the
Roche Institute. Uclenfriencl's ciream hacl come true.
When Uclenfrienc! left Roche in December 1996, he al-
reacly hacl accepted a position at Drew University as clirec-
tor of the Charles A. Dana Research Institute for Scientists
Emeriti (RISE). This institute was specifically establisher! to
encourage interaction between some of the top retired sci-
entists from inclustrv in New Tersev en cl unclergracluate stu-
, ~ ,
clents at the university. Uclenfrienc! remainec! in that post
through 1999, en cl uncler his leaclership the institute ex-
panclecl its membership en cl broaclenecl its sphere of activi-
ties. Uclenfrienc! obtainer! great satisfaction from working
closely with unclergracluate students en cl his caring for both
science en cl people were apparent to all who knew him at
Drew University.
In 1999 Uclenfriencl macle the clifficult decision to step
clown as director of the RISE. He en cl Shirley hacl cleciclecl
to move to Atlanta, where their daughter livecI, since it was
becoming clear that because of age en cl the aftereffects of
the accident, they both neeclecl help to carry on many of
their tinily activities. The move south was macle in 1999, but
soon after they were settlecl Uclenfriencl was showing symp-
toms of coronary artery blockage. In the early winter of
1999 he entered the hospital for a bypass operation, which
appeared to be successful, however, cluring recovery he ap-
parently suffered a massive stroke en cl remained in a coma
for several days until his death on December 29, 1999. The
funeral was helcl on December 3l, en cl because of the time
factor en cl location, only about 20 people, mostly his close
relatives, attenclec! the gravesicle service. Weissbach was able
OCR for page 294
294
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
to fly up from Floricia en c! was the only scientific colleague
from the past to be present.
Weissbach plannecl on having a memorial event in
Uclenfriencl's honor for the many scientists whose lives
Uclenfriencl touched. Working with Ashley Carter, the new
director of the RISE en cl Barbara Petrack a RISE member,
a half-clay symposium was hell! on May 25, 2000, on the
Drew University campus. A scientific lecture was presented
by GreengarcI, en cl the list of scientific colleagues who macle
short remarks, in aciclition to the organizers, incluclec! Witkop,
Burns, Nirenberg, AxeIrocI, Spector, Arthur Weissbach,
Sjoercisma, Ron Kuntzman, en cl Fishman. Aliza, Uclenfriencl's
daughter, was also present.
Udenfriend leaves a scientific legacy that includes close
to 500 publications en cl major contributions to the fielcis of
analytical biochemistry, fluorescence, hyciroxylation reactions,
serotonin en cl norepinephrine biosynthesis en cl metabolism,
collagen biochemistry, encephalins, amino acid transport,
and protein anchoring to membranes. Although research
en cl not formal teaching was the focus of his career he
trained clozens of postcloctoral fellows, through his univer-
sity appointments at George Washington University, City
College, en cl Columbia University, among others, he trained
a large number of graduate students. His role in establish-
ing the Roche Institute was a major accomplishment, but
what will be missecl most is the enthusiasm en cl love of
science that were an integral part of his being.
Sic! Uclenfrienc! is gone but not forgotten.
NOTES
1. Included in this list are Nobel laureates Chris Anfinsen, Julius
Axelrod, and Arthur Kornberg. Several scientists from that early
permanent staff in Building 3 later were members of the National
Academy of Sciences: Bruce Ames, Robert Berliner, Donald Fredrickson,
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SIDNEY UDENFRIEND
295
Leon Heppel, Bernard Horecker, Earl and Theresa Stadtman, Herbert
Weissbach, Bernhard Witkop, and Tames Wyngaarden. Fredrickson
and Wyngaarden eventually became directors of NIH. Other out-
standing postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists who worked in
Building 3 at that time included Paul Stumpf, Horace Barker, Gerard
Hurwitz, Paul Marks, and Arthur Weissbach. The authors realize
that this is a partial list and apologize to the many talented scien-
tists who worked in Building 3 but have not been mentioned.
2. A tryptophan research meeting on a regular international ba-
sis was eventually organized in 1971, mainly as a result in the grow-
ing interest in the role of serotonin in depression and moods and
the wider consequences for neurochemistry, psychiatry, cardiovas-
cular studies, and more recently immunobiology and neuro-
immunobiology. The acronym for these biannual symposia is ISTRY,
or International Study Group for Tryptophan Research.
3. The First Symposium on Arene Oxides in Biochemistry and
Metabolism ~ Science 178~19724:779-81) was held atRochein April
1972 with Udenfriend presiding and pointing out that as early as
1947, E. Boyland, who was present, had postulated arene oxides as
reactive intermediates in the metabolism of polycylic aromatic sub-
strates, an immense area of research for the carcinogenic effects of
tobacco smoke and benzopyrene keeping investigators, such as Harry
Gelboin (NIH), Allan Conney, (Roche), Don Jerina, (NIH), Charles
Heidelberger (University of Wisconsin), and many others busy for
years.
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296
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
sidney udenfriend
