{"id":2323,"date":"2023-05-12T10:41:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T08:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fundaciojoanoro.org\/joan-oro-florensa\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T12:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T10:23:07","slug":"joan-oro-florensa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fundaciojoanoro.org\/en\/joan-oro-florensa\/","title":{"rendered":"Joan Or\u00f3 Florensa"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Scientist of Life<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Biography<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The figure of Joan Or\u00f3 Florensa<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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He was a Catalan biochemist, whose studies have been key to understanding the origin of life on our planet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Biography<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Joan Or\u00f3 Florensa was born on October 26, 1923 in La Bordeta, Lleida. The son of a family of bakers, from an early age he was interested in the role of humanity in the universe. He graduated in Chemical Sciences at the University of Barcelona in 1947. In 1952 he emigrated to the United States and in 1956 he received his doctorate in biochemistry from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In 1955 he entered the University of Houston, and in 1963 he was appointed a professor. His doctoral thesis studied the metabolism of formic acid in animal tissues. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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One of his most important contributions was in 1959, when he managed to synthesize adenine, a component of nucleic acids, molecules that transmit biological inheritance from hydrocyanic acid and ammonia in an aqueous solution.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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From 1963 he collaborated in various NASA space research projects, such as the Apollo project for the analysis of rocks and other samples of material from the Moon, and the Viking program for the development of an instrument for the molecular analysis of the atmosphere and surface matter of the planet Mars.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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He returned to Catalonia in 1980 to collaborate in new energy development plans and the study of alternative sources of energy. He was a CiU deputy for Lleida in the Parliament of Catalonia (1980-1981) and advisor on scientific issues to the President of the Generalitat. The conditions that the country offered him did not allow him to make a quality search and he returned to Houston, until retirement, in 1994. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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He died in Barcelona on September 2, 2004. Cremated in the Montju\u00efc Cemetery, the ashes were taken to the cemetery of Lleida. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chronology<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Joan Or\u00f3 Florensa<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chronology<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1923<\/div><\/div>
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I born to the Bordeta neighborhood in Lleida on October 26.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1928<\/div><\/div>
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He began to study primary school at the Germans Maristes.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1943<\/div><\/div>
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He began studying Chemical Sciences in Barcelona.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1947<\/div><\/div>
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He graduated in Chemical Sciences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1948<\/div><\/div>
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He married and settled in Lleida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1951<\/div><\/div>
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He decides to emigrate to the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1954<\/div><\/div>
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While on a scholarship at the University of Houston, he discovered the process of oxidation of formic acid into CO\u2082, key to understanding the origin of life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1955<\/div><\/div>
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He became a professor at the University of Houston, where he was a professor since 1963, where he founded and directed the Department of Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1956<\/div><\/div>
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She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Houston.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1959<\/div><\/div>
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It synthesizes adenine. One of the five bases that is part of DNA and RNA, containers of the genetic information of living beings and essential for life. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1961<\/div><\/div>
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He proposes that the collision of comets on Earth could have contributed to an increase in carbon compounds and thus promote the origin of life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1962<\/div><\/div>
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He works on NASA's Apollo project, where he developed the equipment for the chemical analysis of lunar samples, both in situ and in the laboratory, when the samples arrived.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1964<\/div><\/div>
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He participated in NASA's Viking project, where he developed instrumentation for the analysis of the atmosphere of the planet Mars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1993<\/div><\/div>
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He creates the Joan Or\u00f3 Foundation in Lleida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

1994<\/div><\/div>
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He retires and returns to Barcelona. He promoted the creation of the Montsec Astronomical Park in \u00c0ger. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

2004<\/div><\/div>
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He died in Barcelona on 2 September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> \n

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