Jorge Allende was born in Cartago, Costa Rica, son of Octavio Allende Echeverría, Chilean Consul in the city of Puntarenas, and Amparo Rivera Ortiz, a Costa Rican artist.[3] Because of his father's job as a diplomat, he spent his childhood years between Costa Rica, Chile and the United States. He finished high school in a Jesuit School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his father was appointed as the Chilean Consul.[4] Subsequently, he studied at Louisiana State UniversityinBaton Rouge, Louisiana. He obtained the Bachelor of Science in chemistry degree in 1957.
During the 1960s, his research was focused on protein synthesis, a field in which he made crucial contributions. In the 1970s he was a pioneer in studying the mechanism of hormonal induction of oocyte maturation. His later research is focused in two ubiquitous protein kinases, CK1 and CK2, involved in the phosphorylation of key cellular proteins.[6]
He devoted much of his life to organizing activities for the scientific integration in Latin America especially through organizing series of training courses in molecular biology techniques, and through the creation of the Latin American Network of Biological Sciences.[7]
In recent years, Doctor Allende has been an promoter of science education through his personal commitment in several projects, like the Science Education Inquiry Based program, funded by the University of Chile,[8] and through his participation in the Allende-Connelly Foundation, founded by him and his wife.[9][10]
Though he retired from active science in 2009, he remains a professor at the Faculty of Medicine. He was also Research Vice President of the University of Chile.[11][12]
He published his autobiography in 2010.[13]
He married Catherine Connelly (also a biochemist) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, On September 16, 1961. He raised a family of four children: Miguel Luis, Juan Ignacio, Jorge Eduardo and Maria Amparo and has 13 grandchildren.[14]
With his wife, Catherine Connelly, he was on sabbatical at the University of California at San Diego, when the 1973 coup in Chile took place. He returned to Chile in May 1974 and was one of the main defenders of the University of Chile's autonomy, endangered by the military intervention in academic life. In December 1975 he co-signed, with other academics, a letter entitled "University under surveillance" opposing military intervention in the University of Chile. The letter was written by philosopher Jorge Millas and published in the newspaper "El Mercurio". The letter was the first appearance of a public statement by a group of academics who criticized the handling of the University of Chile by the military government.[15]
