Eugene Victorovich Barkovsky

Background

Eugene Victorovich Barkovsky was born on May 18, 1946. A year before entering the Minsk State Medical Institute, he won a mathematics olympiad among school students in Minsk. During his student years he joined scientific work in the Department of General Chemistry, where he prepared an early review of Claude Shannon’s application of information theory to biological objects. His sustained interest in information entropy later became a recurring feature of his research in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Education

Barkovsky studied at the Minsk State Medical Institute, now Belarusian State Medical University, where he received medical training and developed a scientific specialization in chemistry and biochemistry. He later completed doctoral-level research in the biological sciences. His academic development linked medical education with quantitative studies of protein structure, molecular evolution, and biochemical processes.

Career

Barkovsky’s professional career was associated with Belarusian State Medical University, where he worked in the Department of General Chemistry and became a professor and head of the department. His research began with biochemical and biophysical studies of blood coagulation and the structure and function of fibrinogen, plasminogen, and thrombin. He subsequently investigated protein secondary structure, calmodulin, adenylate cyclases, alcohol dehydrogenases, antigenic peptides, cataract biochemistry, and the effects of ethanol on metabolic enzymes. His later work expanded into molecular evolution, genomic nucleotide composition, mutational pressure, proteomics, genomics, and bioinformatics. He published more than 300 scientific articles and approximately 10 monographs, served as a scientific consultant for two doctoral dissertations, and supervised seven candidate dissertations. His research on the biochemical mechanism of cataract formation identified covalent cross-links between aromatic amino-acid side chains in crystallin molecules and contributed to the development of methods for correcting metabolic disturbances associated with cataract. He also continued to develop educational materials in general, inorganic, physical, and colloid chemistry until shortly before his death.

Achievements

• Conducted influential research in computational biochemistry, proteomics, genomics, molecular evolution, and bioinformatics.

• Developed a theory and research program concerning mutational pressure and its effects on nucleotide and amino-acid composition in genomes and proteins.

• Developed methods for predicting protein secondary structure from amino-acid sequences, including analyses based on dip peptide composition and amino-acid frequency patterns.

• Identified a biochemical mechanism involved in age-related cataract formation through covalent cross-linking of aromatic amino-acid residues in crystallin proteins.

• Advanced the application of information theory and entropy calculations to the analysis of biological molecules.

• Developed a multilevel approach for studying the influence of ethanol on enzyme activity through in vivo, in vitro, and in silico analyses.

Works

• monograph

  • Мембраносвязанные аденилатциклазы

    (Monograph on membrane-bound adenylate cyclases, co-author...)

    2005

• scientific article

  • The Influence of Ethanol on Pyruvate Kinases Activity in Vivo, in Vitro, in Silico

    (Co-authored study examining ethanol’s effects on muscle a...)

    2013
  • The Influence of Flanking Secondary Structures on Amino Acid Content and Typical Lengths of 3/10 Helices

    (Co-authored research on amino-acid composition and charac...)

    2014

  • Unusual Nucleotide Content of Rubella Virus Genome as a Consequence of Biased RNA-Editing: Comparison with Alphaviruses

    (Co-authored investigation of unusual nucleotide compositi...)

    2011

  • Opposite Nucleotide Usage Biases in Different Parts of the Corynebacterium diphtheriae spaC Gene

    (Co-authored study of contrasting nucleotide-usage biases ...)

    2015
  • Protoisochores in Certain Archaeal Species Are Formed by Replication-Associated Mutational Pressure

    (Co-authored research on replication-associated mutational...)

    2010

  • Prediction of the Secondary Structure of Globular Proteins by Their Amino Acid Sequence

    (Research article presenting an approach to predicting glo...)

    1982

  • Local Mutational Pressures in Genomes of Zaire Ebolavirus and Marburg Virus

    (Co-authored comparative analysis of local mutational pres...)

    2015
  • Study of Completed Archaeal Genomes and Proteomes: Hypothesis of Strong Mutational AT Pressure Existed in Their Common Predecessor

    (Co-authored study proposing strong ancestral mutational A...)

    2010

  • Main Pathways of Proteome Simplification in Alphaherpesviruses Under the Influence of Mutational Pressure

    (Co-authored study of proteome simplification in alphaherp...)

    2009

• Study guide

  • Введение в общую химию

    (Educational-methodological guide published by Belarusian ...)

    2014

  • Общая и неорганическая химия: контрольные работы для студентов 1-го курса заочного отделения фармацевтического факультета

    (Study guide issued by Belarusian State Medical University...)

    2012

• textbook

  • Основы химии биогенных элементов

    (Educational textbook for medical-university students on b...)

    2011

  • Общая химия: курс лекций

    (University lecture course in general chemistry prepared f...)

    2009

  • Введение в химию биогенных элементов и химический анализ

    (Educational book published in Minsk by Vyshэйшая школа; B...)

    1997

Membership

Barkovsky was a member of the American Chemical Society. His professional work also connected him with the academic and research community of Belarusian State Medical University and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

• Professional membership in the American Chemical Society.

  American Chemical Society , United States

Interests

• Information theory, molecular evolution, protein structure, genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, and the application of quantitative methods to biological and medical problems.

Connections

Barkovsky was married to Irina. His scientific and educational work was closely connected with Belarusian State Medical University, where he taught, conducted research, headed the Department of General Chemistry, and supervised researchers.

Wife:

Irina

Barkovsky’s wife.

References

• Вклад профессора Е. В. Барковского в молекулярную биологию Memorial review describing Barkovsky’s career, research in biochemistry, biophysics, molecular evolution, genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics, his teaching, publications, supervision, awards, and scientific achievements.
  2016
• Eugene Victorovich Barkovsky bibliography Bibliographic profile listing Barkovsky’s authorship of research articles on mutational pressure, nucleotide usage, archaeal genomes, viral genomes, and molecular evolution.