Maud Menten

Maud Leonora Menten (March 20th, 1879 - July 26th, 1960 was scientist medical who made important contributions to the enzymatic Cinétique in Biochimie like with the histochimy. It is known especially for the equation of Michaelis and Menten.

Maud Menten was born in Lambton Port, Ontario, Canada, and studied with the Université of Toronto. It obtained baccalaureat-be-arts in 1904, the baccalaureat in médicine in 1907, and the doctorate in médicine in 1911. It is among the first women in Canada to obtain a doctorate in médicine, after having supplemented its work of thesis to the Université of Chicago. At the time the women do not have the right to make the medical research in Canada, then it decides to make its research outside, initially in the United States and then in Germany.

In 1912 she moves with Berlin where she works with Leonor Michaelis and obtains her Ph.D. in 1916. She passes the majority of her career (1923-50) to the Université of Pittsburgh like Pathologiste, and finishes her career like senior chercheure (“research fellow”) in British Columbia Medical Research Institute (1951-1953).

Its most famous work is in the field of the enzymatic Cinétique, based on the former results of Victor Henri. The results are summarized in the equation of Michaelis and Menten. She also invented the Réaction of coupling of the dyes azo for the proportioning of the alkaline Phosphatase, reaction which is always employed in histochimy. She characterized toxins of the bacteria B. paratyphosus, S. scarlatinae and Salmonella ssp. She carried out the first separation of proteins by the electrophoresis in 1944. She also worked on the properties of the Hémoglobine, as well as the regulation of the level of sugars to blood, and the operation of the kidneys.

Although she suffered from arthritis, she had a certain success as musician and painter amateur, and several exhibitions of its painting took place.

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