Anatole Klyosov

Anatole A. Klyosov (Russian: Анато́лий Алексе́евич Клёсов; born 20 November 1946 in Chernyakhovsk)^[1] is a Russian scientist who worked in the fields of physical chemistry, enzyme catalysis, and industrial biochemistry. In 1989 Klyosov immigrated to the US. He spent most of his career developing ways to use enzymes to convert agricultural waste products into useful products — first to convert cotton waste to glucose in the USSR, and later in the US, turning paper mill waste into useful products. He later helped found a company, and later joined it as CSO, that was founded to use enzymes to alter existing anticancer drugs via glycosylation.

2008 photo

Career

Klyosov earned Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees in physical chemistry, and an M.S. degree in enzyme kinetics, from Moscow State University.^[2] In the late 1970s he worked at Harvard University; he was offered a contract to keep working there but the USSR government would not allow him to take it and he remained in the USSR.^[3] From 1979 to 1981 he was professor in the department of chemical enzymology at Moscow State University.^[1]

From 1981 to 1990, he was professor and head of the Carbohydrates Research Laboratory at the A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, USSR Academy of Sciences.^[4] In the winter of 1982/1983 he became the first person behind the Iron Curtain who was allowed by the government of the USSR to use the computer network that later became the Internet, in order for him to represent the USSR in a conference hosted on the network; he used an x.25-connected computer at a Moscow institute called VNIIPAS.^[3] He said that he developed methods to use enzymes to convert cotton plant waste products into glucose and by 1983 a pilot plant had been built in the USSR to test these methods.^[5] He was awarded top Russian prizes in science and technology field: the Lenin Komsomol Prize in 1978 and the USSR State Prize in 1984.^[1][6] In 1989 he was made a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.^[7] In 2014 he became Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia.^[8]

Klyosov immigrated to the US in 1989^[9] after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power,^[3] and from 1990 to 1998 he was a visiting professor of biochemistry at the Center for Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences at Harvard Medical School.^[4]

In 1991 he started a consulting business called MIR International.^[10][11]

From 1996 to 2006 Klyosov worked at a subsidiary of Kadant, where he applied enzymology to processing of waste products from the paper-making industry, and following advice from a friend in the plastics industry, helped create a business that used cellulose granules as filler material for plastic composite products.^[2][12]

In 2001 he helped found Pro-Pharmaceuticals, a company that was formed to use enzymes to add carbodydrates to existing cancer drugs to make them work better, and was caught up in scandal in 2004 when the company's investors accused its CEO of misrepresenting his role in the company.^[13] He joined the company as Chief Scientific Officer in 2006.^[2] Pro-Pharmaceuticals named a new CEO in March 2011,^[14] and gave Klyosov a one-year contract to continue as CSO the same month.^[15] The company was renamed as Galectin Therapeutics in May 2011.^[16] He then became a member of the company's scientific advisory board.^[4]

From 2008^[17] Klyosov is also known as the author of what he calls "DNA genealogy", aimed to synthesize biology, anthropology, archaeology and linguistics and to implement methods of chemical kinetics in genetics.^[18][19] Klyosov described his "DNA genealogy" as a "patriotic science" and between 2010 and 2016 published 10 books in this field.^[20] In some of his writings Klyosov tried to refute the Out of Africa hypothesis and proposed his alternative Into Africa theory^[21] with "outlandish claims" that the human species originated in Northern Russia.^[18][20] A 2015 open letter from scientists in various fields said that his writing could fuel hatred “attracting readers whose nationalist and political ambitions are not satisfied with the world’s scientific body of knowledge.” Klyosov responded saying that they were members of a "fifth column".^[20] "DNA genealogy" has been described as pseudoscience and "DNA demagoguery”.^[22][23][24]

Klyosov is the founder and president of the Academy of DNA Genealogy^[18] and self-publishes its proceedings via Lulu.^[6]

In 2013 Klyosov became editor-in-chief of the journal Advances in Anthropology, published by Scientific Research Publishing.^[18][25]

Publications

Books in English

• Klyosov, A. A. (2007). Wood-Plastic Composites. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470165928. (Translated to Chinese, Science Press, China, 2010; translated to Russian, НОТ Publishing House, 2010, 736 с.)
• Wingard, L. B. Jr; Berezin, I. V.; Klyosov, A. A., eds. (1980). Enzyme Engineering. N.Y.: Plenum Press.
• Klyosov, A. A.; Witczak, Z. J.; Platt, D., eds. (2006). Carbohydrate Drug Design. ACS symposium series (Vol 932). Washington DC: American Chemical Society. ISBN 9780841239463.
• Klyosov, A. A.; Witczak, Z. J.; Platt, D., eds. (2008). Galectins. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470377789.
• Klyosov, A. A., ed. (2012). Glycobiology and Drug Design. ACS symposium series (Vol 1102). Washington DC: American Chemical Society.
• Klyosov, A. A.; Traber, P. G., eds. (2013). Galectins and Disease Implications for Targeted Therapeutics. ACS symposium series (Vol 1115). Washington DC: American Chemical Society. ISBN 9780841228801.
• Anatole A. Klyosov, DNA Genealogy, 1998, by Scientific Research Publishing, book online

Books in Russian

Enzymology

• Berezin, I. V.; Klyosov, A. A. (1976). Практический курс химической и ферментативной кинетики [Practical Course of Chemical and Enzymatic Kinetics] (in Russian). Moscow University Press.
• Klyosov, A. A.; Berezin, I. V. (1980). Ферментативный катализ. Т. 1 [Enzyme Catalysis, Vol. 1] (in Russian). Moscow University Press.
• Klyosov, A. A. (1984). Ферментативный катализ. Т. 2 [Enzyme Catalysis, Vol. 2] (in Russian). Moscow University Press.
• Berezin, I. V.; Klyosov, A. A.; et al. (1987). Egorov, N. S.; Samuilov, V. D. (eds.). Биотехнология. Кн. 8: Инженерная энзимология [Biotechnology. Book 8: Engineering Enzymology] (in Russian). Москва: Высшая школа.

Publications on "DNA genealogy"

• Klyosov, A. A.; Tyunyayev, A. A. (2010). Происхождение человека (по данным археологии, антропологии и ДНК-генеалогии) [Origin of Man (according to archaeology, anthropology and DNA genealogy)] (in Russian). Москва: Белые Альвы. ISBN 978-5-91464-040-5.
• Кљосов, A. A. (2013). Порекло Словена. Осврти на ДНК-генеалогију [Origin of Slavs. Essays in DNA Genealogy] (in Serbian). Београд: Мирослав.
• Klyosov, A. A. (2015). Происхождение славян и других народов. Очерки ДНК-генеалогии [Origin of Slavs and Other Peoples. Essays in DNA Genealogy] (in Russian). Москва: Алгоритм. ISBN 978-5-4438-0978-6.
• Klyosov, A. A. (2013). Происхождение славян. ДНК-генеалогия против "норманнской теории" [Origin of Slavs. DNA Genealogy Against the "Norman Theory"] (in Russian). Москва: Алгоритм. ISBN 978-5-4438-0324-1.
• Klyosov, A. A. (2013). Занимательная ДНК-генеалогия [Entertaining DNA Genealogy] (in Russian). Москва: Вече. ISBN 978-5-4444-1351-7.
• Klyosov, Saidov, A. A. (2016). Евреи и пуштуны Афганистана [Jews and Pashtuns of Afghanistan] (in Russian). Москва: Концептуал. ISBN 978-5-9067-5658-9.
• Klyosov, A. A. (2016). Кому мешает ДНК-генеалогия? Ложь, инсинуации, и русофобия в современной российской науке [Who is Against DNA Genealogy? Lies, Insinuations and Russophobia in modern Russian science] (in Russian). Москва: Книжный мир. ISBN 978-5-8041-0842-8.
• Klyosov, A. A. (2016). Ваша ДНК-генеалогия [Your DNA Genealogy] (in Russian). Москва: Концептуал. ISBN 978-5-9067-5698-5.
• Klyosov, A. A. (2016). ДНК-генеалогия от А до Т [DNA Genealogy from A to T] (in Russian). Москва: Книжный мир. ISBN 978-5-8041-0873-2.