George Palade is famous for his discoveries about the structure and function of the cell, made using electron microscope and diverse biochemical techniques.

George Emil Palade was born on November 19th, 1912, at Iasi (Romania). He studied at University of Bucarest, where Palade worked as professor until Second World War, when he served in the medical corps. After the war, Palade emigrated to the United States and became a naturalized cityzen of this country in 1952. Is there where he has made most of his investigations.

Palade was one of the pioneers applying electron microscope to Biology. Using this technique, he described the ultrastructure of mitochondria, chloroplasts and Golgi apparatus. Perhaps his most important discovery was that little organelles, at the present known as ribosomes, were associated to endoplasmic reticulum and had a high RNA content. Also has been exemplary his use of autoradiography to relate secretory function of the pancreas with cellular ultrastructure.

In 1974 George Palade won the Nobel prize of Physiology and Medicine, shared with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve.

More information:

• Nobel e-Museum.
• Romania on Line.
• Lasker Foundation.