George Wallace KidderBorn 9 Dec 1902; died 1996 .American biochemist who demonstrated that a chemical distinction exists between tumorous and normal cells. He was a protozoologist for a number of years in his early career. His study of tetrahymena, a one-cell, pond ciliate with a basic biochemical pattern in most respects resembling that of human cells, led to his discoveries in abnormal growths and, ultimately, in cancerous cells. In spring of 1949, Kidder and his associates discovered that azaguanine, a metabolic analog of guanine, would inhibit the growth of certain forms of cancer and leukemia in mice without injuring the normal cells of the host. (Subsequently, other researchers found to be unsuccessful in cancer treatment of humans, even toxic.) |
