Severo Ochoa. La conquista de un Nobel

The Spanish State Television Network (RTVE) has narrowed down the compass of its possibilities in recent years, such that, whilst one series coupling Imanol Arias and Ana Duato is still making its weekly trot across the screen (`Cuéntame' qv), this biographical `grand series' in one chapter of just over three hours (plus endless advertising) suddenly popped up with the same happy couple as the main actors. I do not wish to be unkind, but after a few dozen episodes of `Brigada Central' and some rather unfortunate productions such as `Lute' and the disastrous `Territorio Comanche', one does tend to get a bit tired of Imanol Arias. Albeit admitting that in `Bearn' (1983) or `Tiempo de Silencio' (1986) he played fairly good parts in films of very acceptable level. On the other hand, Ana Duato has blessed our little screens with lightweight TV series, such as `Celia' and `Médico de Familia' – entirely forgettable if you are older than about 14 – and has only appeared in Pilar Miro's `El Perro del Hortelano' as an offering of something more serious.

From such backgrounds, it was, obviously, but a short step to the making of this biographical film on the life of the scientist Severo Ochoa (1905 Luarca, Asturias, Spain), one of many intellectuals who had to flee Spain during and following the Civil War. Although obviously much effort was made into producing this documentary film, it never managed to get beyond being merely a historical retrospective as it followed the man's life from his childhood in Asturias, university life in Madrid, and the investigations he carried out in Heidelberg, Glasgow, New York, and finally receiving the Nobel Prize. Great care was taken in building sets which looked like Madrid 1930 or the interiors of his various laboratories, and it was great to see some excellent period-piece automobiles. Some nice views across the water – I could not tell whether from Hoboken/Jersey City or whether from Brooklyn Heights – with the WTC towers visible: however they did not exist in 1959, and unfortunately do not exist today. I suppose we should consider this as only a very minor fault.

However, as for the historical background, you would do better looking it up in Hugh Thomas' definitive `The Spanish Civil War', and specifically pages 554 et.seq (in my edition of Penguin, London) for a far better idea of Negrín, university professor who turned politician at the time.

Over three hours long this film for TV will undoubtedly be a bit tedious, except for those with a specific great interest in the subject matter.

Interesting biography about Severo Ochoa De Albornoz (Daniel Guzmán as Severo Ochoa joven and older Ochoa well performed by Imanol Arias) who was the nephew of Álvaro de Albornoz (President of the Second Spanish Republic that was exiled) , he was born in Luarca (Asturias), 24 September 1905 and died 1 November 1993 , he was a Spanish-American physician and biochemist, and joint winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Arthur Kornberg (Juán Gea) . Dealing with his life , as his father died when Ochoa was seven, and he and his mother moved to Málaga, where he attended elementary school through high school. His interest in biology was stimulated by the publications of the Spanish neurologist and Nobel laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal . In 1923, he went to the University of Madrid Medical School, where he hoped to work with Cajal , but Cajal retired . He studied with father Pedro Arrupe, and Juan Negrín (Joan Gadea) was his teacher. Negrín encouraged Ochoa to isolate creatinine from urine. He succeeded and also developed a method to measure small levels of muscle creatinine . Ochoa spent the summer of 1927 in Glasgow working with D. Noel Paton on creatine metabolism improving his English skills . During the summer he refined the assay procedure further and upon returning to Spain submitted a paper describing the work to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, where it was rapidly accepted, marking the beginning of Ochoa's biochemistry career . Ochoa completed his undergraduate medical degree in the summer of 1929 and developed an interest in going abroad to gain further research experience . His previous creatine and creatinine work led to an invitation to join Otto Meyerhof's laboratory at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Berlin-Dahlem in 1929. At that time the Institute was a "hot bed" of the rapidly evolving discipline of biochemistry, and thus Ochoa had the experience of meeting and interacting with scientists such as Otto Warburg, Carl Neuberg, Einar Lundsgaard, and Fritz Lipmann in addition to Meyerhof who had received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine less than a decade earlier .In 1930 Ochoa returned to Madrid to complete research for his MD thesis, which he defended that year. In 1931, a newly minted MD, he married Carmen García Cobián (Ana Duato) , he did not have any children. He then began postdoctoral study at the London National Institute for Medical Research , where he worked with Henry Hallett Dale. His London research involved the enzyme glyoxalase and was an important departure in Ochoa's career in two respects. First, the work marked the beginning of Ochoa's lifelong interest in enzymes. Second, the project was at the cutting edge of the rapidly evolving study of intermediary metabolism.

This miniseries is a decent biography of the prestigious scientific but it relies heavily on the long relationship between Severa Ochoa and his wife played by Daniel Guzmán/ Severo Ochoa young and Maite Pastor/Carmen Covián young as well as Imanol Arias/Severo Ochoa and Ana Duato as Carmen Covián . In the series shows up known historical characters as Luis Buñuel , Salvador Dali , Federico Garcia Lorca , Dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera , and President of Republic Juán Negrin . The series was well directed by Sergio Cabrera .

Adding more remarks about Severo Ochoa life : From then until 1938, he held many positions and worked with many people at many places. For example, Otto Meyerhof appointed him Guest Research Assistant at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg for one year. From 1938 until 1941 he was Demonstrator and Nuffield Research Assistant at the University of Oxford. Ochoa then went to the United States, where he again held many positions at several universities. Between 1940 and 1942, Hershey worked for the Faculty of Medicine of Washington University in St. Louis. In 1942 he was appointed Research Associate in Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and there subsequently became Assistant Professor of Biochemistry (1945), Professor of Pharmacology (1946), Professor of Biochemistry (1954), and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry.In 1956, he became an American citizen. In 1959, Ochoa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synthesis of RNA.Ochoa continued research on protein synthesis and replication of RNA viruses until 1985, when he returned to Spain and gave advice to Spanish science policy authorities. Ochoa was also a recipient of U.S. National Medal of Science in 1978. Long after his death, Spanish actress Sara Montiel claimed that she and Severo Ochoa were involved in an (unconfirmed) romantic relationship in the 1950s , stating : The great love of my life was Severo Ochoa. But it was an impossible love. Clandestine. He was married, and besides, him doing research and me doing films wasn't a good match. A new research center outside Madrid that was planned in the 1970s, was finally built and named after him, the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa. In addition , a hospital bears his name, as does the Madrid Metro station serving it, Hospital Severo Ochoa. And the asteroid 117435 Sever Ochoa is also named in his honor.