Dorothy Norris

{{Short description|English biochemist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{EngvarB|date=November 2022}}

Dorothy Norris née Harrop (?-?) was an English biochemist who worked on yeast fermentation, protein chemistry, and was a pioneer in the study of carcinogens. She moved to India where she worked at the Indian Institute of Science before becoming the founding director of the Indian Lac Research Institute at Ranchi.

Dorothy Harrop worked with Sir Arthur Harden at the Lister Institute on yeast fermentation, bacterial enzyme chemistry,{{Cite journal|last1=Harden|first1=Arthur|last2=Norris|first2=Dorothy|date=1912-04-10|title=The bacterial production of acetylmethylcarbinol and 2.3-butylene glycol from various substances.―II|url=http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/85/576/73|journal=Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B|language=en|volume=85|issue=576|pages=73–78|doi=10.1098/rspb.1912.0028|bibcode=1912RSPSB..85...73H|issn=0950-1193|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}} growth,{{cite journal|title=The Relation of Concentration of Food Supply to the Generation-Time of Bacteria|author1=Penfold, W.J.| author2=Norris, D.| journal=The Journal of Hygiene|volume=12| issue=4| year=1912| pages=527–531|doi=10.1017/s0022172400005180| jstor=3858931|pmid=20474509|pmc=2167404}} and on protein reactions.{{Cite journal|last1=Harden|first1=Arthur|last2=Norris|first2=Dorothy|date=1911-05-22|title=The diacetyl reaction for proteins|journal=The Journal of Physiology|volume=42|issue=4|pages=332–336|doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1911.sp001438|issn=0022-3751|pmc=1512821|pmid=16993068}}{{Cite journal|last=Tansey|first=Tilli|date=2015-01-15|title=Women and the earlyJournal of Physiology|journal=The Journal of Physiology|language=en|volume=593|issue=2|pages=347–350|doi=10.1113/jphysiol.2014.288258|issn=0022-3751|pmc=4303378|pmid=25630254}}{{Cite journal|last1=Harrop|first1=Dorothy|last2=Norris|first2=Roland Victor|last3=Weizmann|first3=Charles|date=1909|title=CXLV.—Some derivatives of anthraquinone|url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=CT9099501312|journal=J. Chem. Soc., Trans.|language=en|volume=95|pages=1312–1319|doi=10.1039/CT9099501312|issn=0368-1645|url-access=subscription}} She also worked on the effects of coal tar on cell cultures and noted increased cell division ("auxetic activity") an known indicator of cancer.{{Cite journal|last=Norris|first=Dorothy|date=1914|title=A Note on the Bases of Gasworks Coal-tar which are believed to be the Predisposing Cause of Pitch Cancer, with Special Reference to their Action on Lymphocytes, together with a Method for their Inactivation|journal=Biochemical Journal|volume=8|issue=3|pages=253–260|doi=10.1042/bj0080253|issn=0264-6021|pmc=1276574|pmid=16742315}}

She moved to India in 1917 along with her husband Roland Victor Norris and was the first woman faculty member at the Indian Institute of Science.{{Cite web|url=https://connect.iisc.ac.in/2018/06/women-and-the-institute/|title=Women and the Institute|last=Deepika S|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2018-06-27|publisher=Indian Institute of Science|year=2018|place=Bangalore}} In 1924-25 the Indian Lac Research Institute was established at Namkum, Ranchi where Norris was appointed its first director.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.100326/2015.100326.Bihar-The-Heart-Of-India#page/n252/mode/1up/|title=Bihar. The Heart of India.|author=Houlton, Sir John|publisher=Orient Longmans|year=1949|pages=192–193}}{{cite journal|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50715630 | title=Review: Lac and the Indian Lac Research Institute by Dorothy Norris, P.M. Glover, and R.W. Aldis. Indian Lac Research Institute.|pages=253–254| year=1935| journal=Journal of the New York Entomological Society| volume=43| author=[H.B.W.]}}