Emil Paleček

Paleček was brought up by his mother, as his father died in a Nazi concentration camp.[1] Aged 13, he went to work as an apprentice at the Bank of Slavia.[1]

Paleček had a specific interest in the fact that most proteins contain sugar, as he believed that analysis of this could lead to better diagnosis of health and illnesses.[2] In particular, he believed that testing glycoproteins could detect early-stage cancer.[1]

In 1959, Paleček received a PhD in biochemistry from Masaryk University in Brno, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic).[3] During the 1960s, Paleček worked at the Biophysical Institute of the Academy of Sciences in Brno.[4][5] His first work there was investigating DNA damage caused by radiation.[4][6] Paleček later worked with the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, part of Masaryk University.[4][5]

In 1960, Paleček discovered that nucleic acids could be analysed through electrochemical research, which allowed him to explore how DNA can be used to diagnose genetic diseases.[6] His discovery contradicted previous assumptions from the 1950s that DNA molecules were too large to be analysed by electrochemical research.[2] It took the scientific world 30 years to understand the importance of his findings,[6] although the method began to be commonly used in the 1990s.[2] In the 1960s, Paleček spent a year doing research at Harvard University in the United States. Paleček was allowed to travel to the United States as he was not a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[2] In his last month at Harvard University, Paleček's experiments were demonstrated. They were later cited in many biophysics and molecular biology textbooks.[2] During his life, Paleček authored over 300 scientific works, making him one of the most respected scientists in the Czech Republic.[4][6][7]

In 1989, Paleček became a member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.[3] From 1993–97, he was a member of the Czech Academy of Sciences.[3] In 1994, Paleček was one of the founding members of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic.[6][7] In 2003, Paleček was the speaker for one of the Mendel Lectures.[8] In 2009, the Emil Paleček award, was setup by the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences.[6]

Paleček was still working on the Saturday before his death.[5]

In 1961, Paleček was awarded the Jaroslav Heyrovský award for best young scientist.[6] In 2011, he received the Education Minister's award.[6] In 2014, Paleček was awarded the Česká hlava (Czech Head) award.[4][5] In 2017, he was one of seven Czech scientists awarded the Cenu Neuron (Neuron Prize) for their contributions to science.[7]

Paleček became ill after having a stroke whilst swimming. He died two days later on 30 October 2018. His death was announced by fellow scientist Eduard Kejnovsky, who worked as Paleček's public relations officer.[5]