![]() ![]() He introduced me to photodynamic action, a process in which light activates a photosensitizing dye in the presence of O 2 to induce cellular damage, and encouraged me to read about energy transfer because it often plays a key role in effecting the light-induced damage. That day came two years later, in 1957, when I spent a very rewarding summer as a research student at the Argonne National Laboratory under the mentorship of Douglas Smith. Later in the quarter, Franck remarked to me, “One day, you too might work on energy transfer.” This sensitized fluorescence revealed that electronic excitation energy can be transferred between atoms by a direct electromagnetic interaction. In 1923, Franck and his graduate student Günther Cario reported that excitation of mercury led to the emission of thallium in a gaseous mixture of the two atoms ( 1). Franck told me about his current interest in the mechanism of photosynthesis and his early research on energy transfer. My task was simple because he invariably ordered a lean veal sandwich for dinner, and so there was time for conversation. Equally important were my evenings as a waiter at the Quadrangle Club, where I had the good fortune of serving James Franck, a distinguished emeritus professor of chemistry who had received the Nobel Prize in 1925 for carrying out experiments that established the validity of Bohr's model of the atom. I vividly recall my excitement on seeing this graphic demonstration of key features of photosynthesis in a test tube. ![]() In the introductory biology laboratory at the University of Chicago, we isolated chloroplasts and carried out the Hill reaction, in which light leads to the reduction of an indicator dye with the concomitant generation of O 2. The interplay of light and life has fascinated me since my college years. Undergraduate, Medical School, and Postdoctoral Years
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