Leloir, Luis Federico, 1906–87, Argentine biochemist, b. France, M.D. Univ. of Buenos Aires, 1932, Ph.D. Leloir was a researcher at the Univ. of Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1943. He then taught briefly at Washington Univ., St. Louis (1943–44), and at Columbia (1944–45). In 1945, he returned to the Univ. of Buenos Aires. Leloir received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates. His research led to significant progress in the diagnosis and treatment of galactosemia, a congenital disease that can lead to mental retardation and abnormalities of the liver and eye if left untreated.
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