chemistry

Stanley Cohen (biochemist)

Stanley Cohen (biochemist) is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stanley Cohen (biochemist) rather than just read about it. In short: Stanley Cohen (November 17, 1922 – February 5, 2020) was an American biochemist who, along with Rita Levi-Montalcini, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for the isolation of nerve growth factor and the discovery of epidermal growth factor. Early life and education Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 17, 1922.

Key takeaways

Stanley Cohen (biochemist) belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stanley Cohen (biochemist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stanley Cohen (biochemist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Stanley Cohen (November 17, 1922 – February 5, 2020) was an American biochemist who, along with Rita Levi-Montalcini, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for the isolation of nerve growth factor and the discovery of epidermal growth factor.

Early life and education Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 17, 1922. He was the son of Fannie (née Feitel) and Louis Cohen, a tailor. His parents were Jewish immigrants. Cohen received his bachelor's degree in 1943 from Brooklyn College, where he had double-majored in chemistry and biology. After working as a bacteriologist at a milk processing plant to earn money, he received his Master of Arts in zoology from Oberlin College in 1945. He earned a doctorate from the department of biochemistry about the metabolism of earthworms at the University of Michigan in 1948.

Career His first academic employment was at the University of Colorado studying the metabolism of premature babies. In 1952 he moved to Washington University in St. Louis, working first in the department of radiology, learning isotope methodology, and then in the department of zoology. Working with Rita Levi-Montalcini, he isolated nerve growth factor. He later isolated a protein that could accelerate incisor eruption and eyelid opening in newborn mice, which was renamed epidermal growth factor. He continued research on cellular growth factors after joining the faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1959.

In 1999, Cohen retired from Vanderbilt University. He died in February 2020 at the age of 97.

Awards and legacy Cohen received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University together with Rita Levi-Montalcini in 1983, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for the isolation of nerve growth factor and the discovery of epidermal growth factor and the National Medal of Science in 1986. His research on cellular growth factors has proven fundamental to understanding the development of cancer and designing anti-cancer drugs. His Scopus h-index value was 82 as of March 2022.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stanley Cohen (biochemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stanley Cohen (biochemist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stanley Cohen (biochemist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stanley Cohen (biochemist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stanley Cohen (biochemist)

In research: Stanley Cohen (biochemist) appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stanley Cohen (biochemist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stanley Cohen (biochemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1922 births, 2020 deaths, 20th-century American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stanley Cohen (biochemist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stanley Cohen (biochemist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stanley Cohen (biochemist) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stanley Cohen (biochemist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stanley Cohen (biochemist) in simple terms?

Why does Stanley Cohen (biochemist) matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stanley Cohen (biochemist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stanley Cohen (biochemist).