Woman in Science

by: Theresa Hoang

Rita Levi- Montalcini

Have you ever wondered  : How do nerve cells grow and 
                                                    develop?                                or
                                      How does a single cell turn into a a                             complex organism?
Well, these are just two of the ideas that Rita Levi-Montalcini explored herself.  One of her accomplishments won her the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986.  She discovered the nerve growth factor (NGF)  that causes nerve cells to grow.

Biography Highlights:

            Rita Levi-Montalcini was born on April 22, 1909 in Turin, Italy.  She and her twin sister, Paola, are the youngest of four children.  Although she was afraid of her father growing up, she admired his domineering energy and his dedication to his work.  Levi-Montalcini was raised Jewish, but her father did not have strong ties to any religion.  When she was a teenager, she did not know what she wanted to do.  Her father did not want her to have an education because he believed that her marriage would suffer.  However, when Levi-Montalcini was twenty, a family servant died of stomach cancer. This made her decide that she wanted to go to school.  Her father had doubts, but Levi-Montalcini assured him that she did not want to marry.  He finally decided to let her go to school.  
        Levi-Montalcini enrolled in the Turin School of Medicine in the fall of 1930, and graduated six years later as an M.D.  Nevertheless, she had to work extremely hard in order to catch up with the rest of the class.  She graduated from medical school right before the start of World War II.  Levi-Montalcini discovered that while she was in medical school she enjoyed studying histology, the microscopic examination of plant and animal tissue.  She then began to study nerve cells because she had a fascination with nerve tissues.  During WWII, in 1940 Levi-Montalcini was no longer allowed to continue her research at  the University of Turin because it was against the law for Jews to attend lectures, work in laboratories, or go to the library.  Thus, she secretly set up a small laboratory in her home, to resume research on the nervous system throughout the war.  She was able to continue with her studies using chicken embryos.  Even during bombings when the family hid in the basement she would bring her microscope.  After the war, she was invited to work at Washington University in St.  Louis, Missouri.  Here, she discovered proteins that help cells develop, which aid in growth and recovery.  By the early 1950's she discovered chemicals in mice and chick embryos that make nerve cells grow.

            In 1953, the Italian biologist met, Stanley Cohen, a biochemist.  They worked together on ways to treat burns and diseases such as cancer.  When other scientists became interested in the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), no one mentioned Levi-Montalcini's contribution to the discovery.  She became a U.S. citizen in 1956, but decided to return to Italy to work on other problems.
                                                                                                                                    
        As interest in NGF grew and other growth factors were discovered, Levi-Montalcini received more and more awards for her work.  In 1968, she was elected to the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences, where she became the tenth woman who was a member.  Furthermore, in 1972, she decided not to give up on NGF, but to carry on the research.  In 1986, she and Stanley Cohen were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in nerve growth.
        Later in her life, Levi-Montalcini worked for the National Council on Scientific Research in Rome, Italy.  In 1989, she moved to Rome permanently to be with her twin sister.  She is still known to be very active in encouraging the work of young scientists.