Folke Karl Skoog (July 15, 1908 – February 15, 2001) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-born American plant physiologist who was a pioneer in the field of plant growth regulators, particularly

cytokinins Cytokinins (CK) are a class of plant hormones that promote cell division, or cytokinesis, in plant roots and shoots. They are involved primarily in cell growth and differentiation, but also affect apical dominance, axillary bud growth, and le ...

. Skoog was a recipient of the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

1991. Born in

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömseb ...

, Sweden, Skoog emigrated to the United States during a trip to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1925, and was naturalized as a citizen almost a decade later. He competed, and finished sixth in heat 2, in the 1500 meter race during the 1932 Summer Olympics. In 1936, he received his PhD in biology from

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

for his work done with auxin, a plant hormone. In 1937, Skoog was a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

with

Dennis Robert Hoagland Dennis Robert Hoagland (April 2, 1884 – September 5, 1949) was an American chemist and plant scientist working in the fields of plant nutrition, agricultural chemistry, and physiology. He was Professor of Plant Nutrition at the University o ...

, and his professional career advanced significantly with his arrival at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

in 1947. Carlos O. Miller discovered

kinetin Kinetin (/'kaɪnɪtɪn/) is a type of cytokinin, a class of plant hormone that promotes cell division. Kinetin was originally isolated by Carlos Miller and Skoog ''et al.'' as a compound from autoclaved herring sperm DNA that had cell division ...

in 1954, and benzyladenine and related compounds were later synthesized in Skoog's lab. In 1962, Skoog and

Toshio Murashige Toshio Murashige is a professor emeritus of University of California Riverside in plant biology. He is most widely known for his efforts in creating the plant tissue culture medium known as Murashige and Skoog medium Murashige and Skoog medium (o ...

published what is probably the best-known paper in plant tissue culture; in a fruitless attempt to discover a yet-unknown plant growth regulator in

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

juice for his doctoral thesis, Murashige and Skoog instead developed a greatly improved salt base for the sterile culture of tobacco. Now referred to as Murashige and Skoog medium, the final paper (''Murashige, T. and Skoog, F. (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol Plant 18: 100-127'') is one of the most often-cited papers in biology. Now 50 years after the work, M&S salt base remains an essential component in

plant tissue culture Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition. It is widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known ...

. In 1970, Skoog was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

References

1908 births 2001 deaths Swedish scientists California Institute of Technology alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty National Medal of Science laureates Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Plant physiologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Olympic athletes of Sweden Swedish emigrants to the United States {{Sweden-botanist-stub