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A chemist and physiologist, Hoppe-Seyler helped pioneer the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology. He studied fluids of the body such as blood, haemoglobin, pus, bile, milk, and urine and was the first to crystallise haemoglobin and observe its absorption spectrum. In addition he performed several important studies on chlorophyll and isolated several different proteins. Hoppe-Seyler lost both of his parents by the time he was nine years old and spent some of his childhood in an orphan asylum in Halle. He was subsequently adopted by Georg Seyler, the husband of his older sister.1825-12-26T00:00:00+0000| 26 Dec 1825 | | Felix Hoppe-Seyler was born in GermanyHoppe-Seyler | University of Tubingen |
Kuhne was a physiologist who coined the term 'enzyme' after his discovery of the protein-digesting enzyme trypsin in 1876. Early on in his career Kuhne worked on the physiology of muscle. In later years he turned to looking at the chemistry of digestion. Kuhne is also known for having helped to elucidate the chemical changes that occur in the retina under the influence of light.
1837-03-28T00:00:00+0000| 28 Mar 1837 | | Willhelm Kuhne was born in Hamburg, GermanyKuhne | University of Heidelberg |
Fischer was a German chemist who opened up the era of biochemistry by clarifying the structure of sugars and enzymes and elaborating how they were formed. In 1902 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for demonstrating the structure of biological compounds, including sugars proteins and purines. He synthesised many natural occurring molecules for the first time, including glucose, caffeine, and uric acid. In addition, he managed to synthesis several amino acids and created small chains of them as precursors to protein formation. Fisher is also associated with the idea of the 'lock and key' mechanism which is used to explain how enzymes catalyse certain reactions and not others.1852-10-09T00:00:00+0000| 9 Oct 1852 | | Hermann Emil Fischer was born in Euskirchen, Prussia (now Germany)Fischer | University of Berlin |
Takamine was the first to isolate and purify the hormone adrenalin from animal glands. It was the first effective bronchodilator for asthma. This he achieved in 1901 while working for the division of chemistry at the Department of Agriculture and Commerce in Japan. It was the first pure hormone isolated from a natural source.1854-11-03T00:00:00+0000| 3 Nov 1854 | | Jokichi Takamine was born in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, JapanTakamine | Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, Japan |
Buchner was a chemist and zymologist. In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his discovery of cell-free fermentation. This was based on some experiments he carried out in 1897, during which he found that yeast extract could form alcohol from a sugar solution without any living cells. He discovered that the fermentation was driven by an enzyme, zymase, inside the yeast cells. It provided the first evidence that biochemical processes were driven by enzymes formed inside cells. He was killed in the First World War while serving as a general. 1860-05-20T00:00:00+0000| 20 May 1860 | | Eduard Buchner was born in Munich, GermanyBuchner | University of Wurzburg |
Hopkins was a biochemist who shared the 1929 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering vitamins and demonstrating they are an important nutrient in the diet. This was based on experiments he carried out on rats in 1901. He also helped establish the chemistry of muscle contraction, showing that lactic acid accumulates in working muscle in 1907. In 1922 he isolated and demonstrated the importance of tripeptide gluathione to the utilisation of oxygen by the cell.
1861-06-20T00:00:00+0000| 20 Jun 1861 | | Frederick Gowland Hopkins was born in Eastbourne, United KingdomHopkins | Cambridge University |
Harden was one of the key founders of British biochemistry. He won the 1929 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for working out the importance of two enzymes and phosphoric acid during the fermentation process. These he discovered while investigating the fermentation of sugars by bacteria, a project undertaken between 1900 and 1914 that was designed to find a way of differentiating between different groups of Escherichia coli. The work involved grinding bacteria and extracting the intracellular juices.1865-10-12T00:00:00+0000| 12 Oct 1865 | | Arthur Harden was born in Manchester, United KingdomHarden | London University |
Tsvet was a botanist who is credited with the invention of adsorption chromatography. He first described the method in 1901. His technique involved using ether and alcohol to extract plant pigments from leaves and then passing the resulting solution through a column of calcium carbonate. The advantage of the process was that it separated pigments into different coloured bands. By using the process Tsvet was able to demonstrate that plants had two forms of chlorophyll and eight additional pigments. Chromatography is now an important laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture.1872-05-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 May 1872 | | Mikhail Tsvet was born in Asti, ItalyTsvet | University of Warsaw, Warsaw Technical University |
Euler-Chelpin was a Geman-born Swedish biochemist who shared the Nobel Prize in 1929 for working out the role of enzymes in the fermentation of sugar. His work laid the foundation for understanding the important processes that take place in the muscles for supplying energy. He also helped show that colouring agents like betacaronoids in vegetables get transformed into vitamin A in the body.
1873-02-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Feb 1873 | | Hans von Euler-Chelpin was born in Augsburg, GermanyEuler-Chelpin | Stockholm University |
Windaus was a German steroid chemist who helped discover 7-dehydrocholesterol, the chemical precursor of vitamin D in 1926. He showed that exposure to sunlight converted the molecule into vitamin D. His finding explained why sunlight was important to preventing rickets, a bone disease that afflicts humans who have a vitamin D deficiency. In 1928 Windaus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sterols and their relation to vitamins. He also helped work out the chemical steps involved in the transformation of cholesterol to vitamin D31876-12-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Dec 1876 | | Adolf O R Windaus was born in Berlin, GermanyWindaus | University of Innsbruck, University of Gottingen |
Fleming was a biologist and microbiologist. He first made his mark through his discovery of lysosyme in 1923. This is an enzyme produced in the tears, saliva, mucus and human milk which is an important part of the immune system. Today he is best known for having found penicillin, a mould subsequently developed as the first antibiotic drug to treat bacterial diseases. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945 for this discovery.1881-08-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Aug 1881 | | Alexander Fleming was bornFleming | London University |
Svedberg was a nuclear scientist who in 1923 invented the analytical ultracentrifuge, a high speed centrifuge that makes it possible to spin large molecules at forces in excess of a million times the force of gravity. This provided a means to separate large macromolecules such as proteins out of a solution. Svedberg used his ultracentrifuge to work out the relative molecular masses of large molecules in high polymers and proteins. He managed to determine the molecular weight of haemoglobin in blood and casein in milk. Svedberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1926 for his invention of the analytical ultracentrifuge.
which he used to research colloids and proteins.1884-08-30T00:00:00+0000| 30 Aug 1884 | | Theodor H E Svedberg was born in Flerang, SwedenSvedberg | Uppsala University |
Kendall made several contributions to biochemistry and medicine. He is best known for isolating the steroid cortisone from the adrenal gland cortex, subsequently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1950. He also isolated thyroxine, the main hormone secreted by the thyroid gland which is vital to digestion, heart and muscle function and brain development and bone maintenance. 1886-03-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Mar 1886 | | Edward Calvin Kendall was born in South Norwalk CT, USAKendall | Mayo Clinic |
Rose was a biochemist and nutritionist. He isolated the amino acid threonine in 1932 and demonstrated in rats that a diet that lacked the amino acid stunted their growth. By 1949 he had established that ten amino acids were vital to human health: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. Based on this work he was appointed to the US Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council which drew up dietary recommendations. 1887-04-04T00:00:00+0000| 4 Apr 1887 | | William C Rose was born Greenville, South Carolina, USARose | University of Illinois |
Sumner was a biochemist who showed that enzymes are proteins and can be crystalised for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946. He crystalised his first enzyme, urease, in 1926. This he achieved by mixing purified urease with acetone and then chilling it. Using chemical tests he showed the enzyme was a protein. His work provided the first proof that enzymes were proteins1887-11-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 Nov 1887 | | James B Sumner was born in Canton MA, USASumner | Cornell University |
Harger was a biochemist and toxicologist who invented the the first practical test for measuring alcohol levels in drivers. He developed this in 1931. Known as the Drunkometer, the test collected a sample of a driver's breath directly into a balloon. This was then pumped into an acidifed potassium permanganate solution. If any alcohol was present in the sample the solution changed colour. Harger's test greatly helped reduce the number of road deaths from drunk driving. 1890-01-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 Jan 1890 | | Rolla N Harger was born Kansas, USAHager | Indiana University School of Medicine |
Northrop shared the 1946 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for helping to develop the technique for purifying and crystallising enzymes and virus proteins. His work showed that enzymes obey the laws of chemical reactions and that they are proteins. In 1930 he crystallised pepsin, an enzyme present in gastric juice necessary for digestion. Eight years later he isolated the first bacterial virus (bacteriophage). This he proved to be a nucleoprotein. Other enzymes that he managed to isolate and crystalise were trypsin and chymotrypsin, both important to the digestive process.1891-07-05T00:00:00+0000| 5 Jul 1891 | | John H Northrop born in Yonkers NY, USANorthrop | Rockefeller Institute |
Banting was a physician who helped discover and isolate insulin. He also pioneered the extraction of insulin from pigs and cattle and demonstrated its use to treat diabetes in dogs. In 1923 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this work. 1891-11-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 Nov 1891 | | Frederick Grant Banting was born in Alliston, CanadaGrant | University of Toronto |
Moore was a zoologist who devoted his career to studying the reoproductive tract of male mammals and the physiology of spermatozoa. He played a pivotal role in 1929 in isolating the testicular secretion containing the male sex hormones andresterone and testosterone. This discovery opened up the path to researching the chemical composition of the hormones and their production.
1892-12-05T00:00:00+0000| 5 Dec 1892 | | Carl R Moore was born in Missouri, USAMoore | University of Chicago |
Cohn developed a fractionation technique to separate blood into its components, paving the way to safer blood transfusion. During World War II he worked out methods for isolating serum albumin from blood plasma which is crucial to maintaining osmotic pressure in blood vessels and preventing their collapse. Thousands of soldiers were successfully treated on the battlefield with transfusions of purified albumin. Cohn subsequently developed mechanisms so that every component of blood could be used in transfusions.1892-12-17T00:00:00+0000| 17 Dec 1892 | | Edwin J Cohn was born in New York CityCohn | Harvard University |
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was a biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937 for isolating vitamin C and determining the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. He subsequently worked on the biophysics of muscle movement and discovered that biochemical nature of muscular contraction. His findings revolutionised the field of muscle research. Later on he explored the connections between free radicals and cancer. 1893-09-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 Sep 1893 | | Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)Szent-Gyorgyi | Szeged University, National Institutes of Health |
Doisy was a biochemist who helped isolate two forms of vitamin K and determine their chemical structure in 1936-39, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1943. The fact that Vitamin K helps promote blood-clotting means it is used widely in surgery and medicine. Doisy also helped isolate the sex hormones estrone (1929), estriol (1935), and estradiol (1935).1893-11-13T00:00:00+0000| 13 Nov 1893 | | Edward A Doisy was born in Hume, Illinois, USADoisy | St Louis University |
A German chemist and physiologist, Hoppe-Seyler helped pioneer the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology. He studied fluids of the body such as blood, haemoglobin, pus, bile, milk, and urine and was the first to crystallise haemoglobin and observe its absorption spectrum. In addition he performed several important studies on chlorophyll and isolated several different proteins. Hoppe-Seyler lost both of his parents by the time he was nine years old and spent some of his childhood in an orphan asylum in Halle. He was subsequently adopted by Georg Seyler, the husband of his older sister. 1895-08-10T00:00:00+0000| 10 Aug 1895 | | Felix Hoppe-Seyler diedHoppe-Seyler | University of Tubingen |
Hench was a physician who helped discover cortisone, a hormone of the adrenal cortex, and demonstrate its utility for treating rheumatoid arthritis. He headed up the Department of Rheumatic Diseases at the the Mayo Clinic. Early on he hypothesised that steroids could alleviate the pain associated with the disease, but the difficulty and expense of production hindered his ability to try out his theory. The clinical trials were finally carried out in 1948 and 1949. Hench was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in 1950.1896-02-28T00:00:00+0000| 28 Feb 1896 | | Philip Showalter Hench was born in Pittsburgh PA, USAHench | Mayo Clinic |
Gerty Cori, nee Radnitz, was the third woman to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine and the first woman in America to do so. She shared the prize in 1947 with her husband Cari Cori, for discovering how the body metabolises glycogen, which is important to how the body stores energy. Born into a Jewish family, Cori studied medicine at the Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prague, an unusual path for a woman at the time. Throughout her career Cori experienced difficulties because she was a woman. In 1921 she was threatened with dismissal by the director of Roswell Park Cancer Institute if she continued her collaborative research with her husband. Later she struggled to get appointed full-professor at Washington University St Louuis, a position she gained only months before she won the Nobel Prize. 1896-08-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Aug 1896 | | Gerty Theresa Cori was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic)G Cori | Washington University in St Louis |
Cori was a biochemist and pharmacologist who together with his wife Gerty Cori helped discover how the body metabolises glycogen, which is important to how the body stores energy. The two of them managed to isolate and purify glycogen phosphorylase, with which the achieved the test-tube synthesis of glycogen in 1943. They hypothesised that liver glycogen converts to blood glucose and reconverted to glycogen in the muscle, where it is broken down into lactic acid which provides the energy used in muscle contraction. Their work earned them the 1947 the Nobel Prize for Medicine together with Bernando Hossay. 1896-12-05T00:00:00+0000| 5 Dec 1896 | | Carl F Cori was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic)Carl Cori | Washington University in St Louis |
Hinshelwood was a physical chemist who shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1956 for helping to work out chemical reaction rates and reaction mechanisms. He subsequently did a lot of work on how environmental conditions affected the growth of bacterial cells. His findings on the relationship between the environment and chemical changes inside bacteria cells provided an important pathway to understanding the mechanisms behind bacterial resistance to antibiotics. 1897-06-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 Jun 1897 | | Cyril N Hinshelwood was born in London, UKHinshelwood | Oxford University, Imperial College London |
The child of Polish-Jewish parents, Reichstein was a chemist who in 1933 managed to synthesise vitamin C. His name is associated now with the industrial process for the artificial synthesis of vitamin C. In 1950 he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to isolate and explain the function of the hormones of the adrenal cortex and its therapeutic value for treating rheumatoid arthritis. He spent the last three decades of his life working on the phytochemistry and cytology of ferns. 1897-07-20T00:00:00+0000| 20 Jul 1897 | | Tadeus Reichstein was born in Wloclawek, PolandReichstein | Basel University |
Kuhne was a German physiologist who coined the term 'enzyme' after his discovery of the protein-digesting enzyme trypsin in 1876. Early on in his career Kuhne worked on the physiology of muscle. In later years he turned to looking at the chemistry of digestion. Kuhne is also known for having helped to elucidate the chemical changes that occur in the retina under the influence of light. 1900-06-10T00:00:00+0000| 10 Jun 1900 | | Wilhelm F Kuhne died Kuhne | University of Heidelberg |
Kuhn was a biochemist who won 1938 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on carostenoids, a group of nonnitrogenous yellow, orange and red pigments found in nature. One of these he found to be necessary for the fertilisation of certain algae. He was also awarded the Prize based on his work to determine the constitution of vitamin B2 which he also isolated. He later also helped isolate vitamin B6. Initially Kuhn turned down the Nobel Prize because he was forbidden to accept it by the Nazis with whom he collaborated in the denouncement of three of his Jewish colleagues. He finally accepted the Prize after World War II. Kuhn is also credited with the discovery of Soman, a deadly nerve agent, in 1944. 1900-12-03T00:00:00+0000| 3 Dec 1900 | | Richard Kuhn was born in Vienna, Austria-HungaryKuhn | University of Heidelberg |
du Vigneaud was a biochemist whose research focused on sulfur, proteins and peptides. In late 1940s he helped isolate and synthesise two pituitary hormones: vasopressin and oxytocin. Vasopressin is an antidiurtic hormone that helps protect cells from sudden increases or decreases in water which can affect the cell's function. Oxytocin is a neurohormone that helps contract the uterus during labour and stimulate the secretion of milk during lactation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1955 for this work. Prior to this, in the 1930s, he helped identify the chemical structure of insulin and worked out the structure of biotin, a sulfur-bearing vitamin. 1901-05-18T00:00:00+0000| 18 May 1901 | | Vincent du Vigneaud was born in Chicago IL, USAdu Vigneaud | Cornell University |
A Swedish biochemist, Tiselius devised electrophoresis, a technique used to separate charged macromolecules like DNA, RNA and proteins according to their size. Electrophoresis is a chromatography technique that uses an electric field to separate a mixture of charged molecules. Tiselius also pioneered synthetic blood plasma. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1948 on the back of this work. 1902-08-10T00:00:00+0000| 10 Aug 1902 | | Arne W K Tiselius born in Stockholm, SwedenTiselius | Uppsala University |
Theorell trained in medicine and dedicated his career to understanding enzymes. He won the 1955 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning the nature and mode of action of oxidation enzymes.' He made the breakthrough in 1935. He was able to show that a yellow-coloured enzyme had two parts, both of which were essential to its function. Kossel's work laid the foundation for advances in understanding ADH enzymes which break down alcohol in the kidney. 1903-07-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Jul 1903 | | Axel Hugo T Theorell was born in Linkoping, SwedenTheorell | Karolinska Institutet |
Gwei-djen was a biochemist who undertook pioneering work on metabolic pathways. In 1933, Gwei-djen took the bold decision to leave China, then isolated from the West, to study for a doctorate at Cambridge University where she remained for the rest of her career. By 1939 she had developed the first sensitive assay for detecting low levels of pyruvic acid, an intermediate involved in the breakdown of carbohydrates. Her work demonstrated that the levels of pyruvic acid could be raised by vitamin B1 deficiency and exercise. Gwei-djen worked closely with both Dorothy and Joseph Needham. Together with Joseph she compiled a series of book detailing Chinese achievements in science and technology. .1904-07-22T00:00:00+0000| 22 Jul 1904 | | Lu Gwei-djen was born in Nanjing, Qing ChinaGwei-djen | University of Cambridge |
Stanley was a biochemist and virologist. In 1935 he managed to crystalise the tobacco virus, the causative agent of plant disease. This was a major breakthrough because prior to this no scientists had succeeded in finding out what viruses were. His work laid the foundation for other scientists, using x-ray diffraction, to work out the precise molecular structures and reproduction process of several viruses. During World War II he managed to purify several of the most common influenza viruses and developed a vaccine that was partly effective. In 1946 he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the 'preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form.'1904-08-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 Aug 1904 | | Wendell M Stanley was born in Ridgeville IN, USAStanley | Rockefeller Institute |
Folkers was a biochemist who is best known for his role in the isolation of vitamin B12, which was inspired by the discovery it could help in the treatment of pernicious anaemia. This he did in the late 1940s while working in the research laboratories of Merck and Co. Folkers and his team at Merck went on to discover mevalonic acid, which plays a key role in the production of numerous important biochemical compounds, including carotenoids, steroids, and terpenes. They also isolated the two antibiotics: cathomycin and cyclorserine. 1906-09-01T00:00:00+0000| 1 Sep 1906 | | Karl A Folkers was born in Decatur, Illinois, USAFolkers | Merck & Co |
Leloir was an Argentinian physician and biochemist who won the 1970 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for identifying nucleotides that are fundamental to the metabolism of carbohydrates. He made the discovery in 1948 while working with colleagues at the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de la Fundación Campomar. While strapped for resources and equipment, Leloir and his team managed to determine the chemical origins of sugar synthesis in yeast and the oxidation of fatty acids in the liver. Leloir was the founder and director of the Instituto Campomar from 1947 to 1987. He was responsible for transforming the institute into an internationally renowned research hub for biochemistry. 1906-09-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Sep 1906 | | Luis F Leloir was born in Paris, FranceLeloir | Institute for Biochemical Research |
Levi-Montalcini is best known for sharing the Nobel Prize in 1986 for helping to discover and isolate the nerve growth factor which helps regulate the growth, maintenance, proliferation and survival of certian neurons. Banned by Mussolini from working in academia because she was Jewish, Levi-Montalcini conducted much of her early work in a makeshift laboratory in her bedroom. She later became the director of the Research Center of Neurobiology and the Laboratory of Cellular Biology in Washington University and founded the European Brain Research Institute. 1909-04-22T00:00:00+0000| 22 Apr 1909 | | Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, ItalyLevi-Montalcini | Washington University |
Dorothy Hodgkin, was a British chemist who pioneered protein crystallography, a technique the uses x-ray crystallography to determine the three dimensional structure of protein crystals. She used the technique to confirm the structure of penicillin, in 1945, for which she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. Hodgkin was the third woman to win the Nobel Prize. In addition to penicillin, Hodgkin published the first structure of a steroid and deciphered the structure of vitamin B12 and insulin. Her protein crystallography technique is now an essential tool for research into structural biology.1910-05-12T00:00:00+0000| 12 May 1910 | | Dorothy M Crowfoot Hodgkin was born in Cairo, EgyptD Hodgkin | Cairo, Egypt |
Lehmann was a biochemist who was renowned for his studies on the distribution of abnormal haemoglobins in many different human populations. This grew out of his interest in anaemia, begun when he served as assistant director of pathology to the North East India Command between 1942 and 1947. He helped to discover that a high incidence in the sickle-cell trait in several aboriginal southern Indian populations. Based on his work he hypothesised that the gene for the trait could have been brought to Africa from India during prehistoric migrations.1910-07-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Jul 1910 | | Hermann Lehmann was born in Halle, Saxony, GermanyLehmann | St Bartholomew's Hospital, Cambridge University |
Lynen was a biochemist who was director of the Max Plank Institute for Cellular Chemistry. He helped determine the chemical mechanism for the production and regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for this work. His findings opened the pathway to understanding the role of cholesterol in heart disease and stroke. 1911-04-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Apr 1911 | | Feodor Lynen was born in Munich, GermanyLynen | Max-Planck-Institute for Cellular Chemistry |
A biochemist, Calvin shared the 1961 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for helping to demonstrate the chemical pathways of photosynthesis. Using the radioactive isotope carbon-14 as a tracer he was able to show the carbon movements through a plant during the photosynthesis process. He began his work on photosynthesis in 1946. Prior to this Calvin and his wife, Genevieve Jentegaard, investigated the chemical factors in the RH blood group system and managed to determine the structure of one of the Rh antigens. 1911-04-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Apr 1911 | | Melvin Calvin was born in St. Paul MN, USACalvin | University of California Berkeley |
Stein was a biochemist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize for contributing to understanding the composition and functioning of ribonuclease, an enzyme that catalyses the break down of RNA into smaller components. It was the first structure and sequence worked out for any enzyme. Stein carried out the work with his colleague Stanford Moore in 1963. The two scientists were aided by their invention of the first means for automated amino acid analysis. In addition to his work on ribonuclease, Stein showed how proteins that are comprised of the same amino acids can have very different characteristics and functions. 1911-06-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Jun 1911 | | William H Stein was born in New York NY, USAStein | Rockefeller University |
Bloch was a biochemist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for helping to uncover the mechanism and regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. This work laid the foundation for understanding the relationship between blood cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up inside the body's arteries.
1912-01-21T00:00:00+0000| 21 Jan 1912 | | Konrad Bloch was born in Neisse (now Nysa), Germany (now Poland)Bloch | Harvard University |
A biochemist, Moore helped develop the first automated amino acid analyser in 1958. The machine transformed the ability to analyse the amino acid sequences of proteins. Together with William H Stein, Moore used the machine to determine the amino acid sequence of the ribonuclease molecule. Moore shared the 1972 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for this work. 1913-09-04T00:00:00+0000| 4 Sep 1913 | | Stanford Moore was born in Chicago IL, USAMoore | Rockefeller University |
Perutz fled Austria in 1936 with his Jewish family just after he completed a degree in chemistry at the University of Vienna. Moving to Britain he became involved in X-ray crystallography at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, using the method to study the structure of proteins. In 1959 he managed to work out the structure of haemoglobin, the protein responsible for transporting oxygen in blood. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for this work in 1962. His research paved the way to understanding how the molecule switches between its deoxygenated and its oxygenated states and oxygen is taken up by muscles and other organs. Pertuz was also the founder and first director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biololgy in Cambridge, set up in 1962.1914-05-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 May 1914 | | Max F Perutz was born in Vienna, AustriaPerutz | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Synge was an English biochemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the invention of liquid-liquid paper partition chromatography, a technique used to separate mixtures of closely related chemicals such as amino acids. The technique revolutionised analytical chemistry. By 1948 Synge had managed to work out the exact structure of S gramicidin, a simple protein molecule, using the partition technique. Fred Sanger used this work in his elucidation of the structure of insulin in 1955. 1914-10-28T00:00:00+0000| 28 Oct 1914 | | Richard L M Synge was born in Liverpool, United KingdomSynge | Rowett Research Institute |
Bergstrom was a biochemist who shared the 1982 Nobel Prize for Medicine for isolating and elucidating the chemical structure of prostaglandins which is found in most tissues and organs in humans and mammals. Bergstrom helped show that prostaglandins form from unsaturated fatty acids and their important role in many physiological processes in the body, including causing inflammation after injury or illness, the clotting of blood and uterine contractions. His work revealed that prostaglandins act locally near their site of production, act differently in different tissues and are metabolised very quickly. This opened up new pathways for the treatment of heart disease, strokes and gastric ulcers. It also paved the way to the development of the morning-after pill and inhibitor compounds that help relieve the pain caused by menstruation, gallstones or kidney stones.1916-01-10T00:00:00+0000| 10 Jan 1916 | | Sune K Bergstrom was born in Stockholm, SwedenBergstrom | Karolinska Institute |
Kendrew was a biochemist and crystallogapher. He is best known for elucidating the structure of myoglobin, a protein that stores oxygen in muscle cells, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in 1962. In 1963 he helped found the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and later was its director. For many years he was also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Molecular Biology, 1917-03-24T00:00:00+0000| 24 Mar 1917 | | John C Kendrew was born in Oxford, United KingdomKendrew | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Buchner was a chemist and zymologist. In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his discovery of cell-free fermentation. This was based on some experiments he carried out in 1897, during which he found that yeast extract could form alcohol from a sugar solution without any living cells. He discovered that the fermentation was driven by an enzyme, zymase, inside the yeast cells. It provided the first evidence that biochemical processes were driven by enzymes formed inside cells. He was killed in the First World War while serving as a general. 1917-08-13T00:00:00+0000| 13 Aug 1917 | | Eduard Buchner diedBuchner | University of Wurzburg |
Boyer was a biochemist and analytical chemist renowned for helping to understand the enzymatic mechanism involved in the production of the energy-storage molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which fuels the metabolic processes of all living things. This he did in the 1970s while based at UCLA where he was the founding director of the university's Molecular Biology Institute. In 1997 Boyer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on ATP synthesis. 1918-07-31T00:00:00+0000| 31 Jul 1918 | | Paul D Boyer was born in Provo, UT, USAPaul Boyer | University of California, Los Angeles |
Krebs was a biochemist who in 1933 was forced to leave Nazi Germany because his father was Jewish. He is best known for having discovered two important chemical reactions in the body - the urea cycle and the citric acid cycle. These chemical reactions help break down food molecules into carbon dioxide, water and energy. He made the breakthrough in the 1930s. The process is known as the Krebs cycle. Krebs was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954.1918-08-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Aug 1918 | | Hans Adolf Krebs was born in Hildesheim, GermanyKrebs | University of Freiburg, Cambridge University, Sheffield University, Oxford University |
Skou was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1997 for discovering an ion-transporting enzyme called sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase (Na+-K+ ATPase), which is found in the plasma membrane of animal cells. The enzyme is important to the transport of molecules through a cell's membrane. Skou made the discovery in the late 1950s. A number of other similar ATPase-based enzymes were discovered later, including one that helps control muscle contraction. 1918-10-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Oct 1918 | | Jens C Skou was born in Lemvig, DenmarkSkou | Aarhus University |
Horwitz was a chemist who is best known for having synthesised the compound zidovudine (commonly called AZT). Originally Horwitz developed the compound to be an anti-cancer drug in 1964, but it failed to show anticancer activity. Other researchers discovered the drug could prolong the life of AIDS patients. Approved for AIDS in 1987 by the US FDA, AZT transformed AIDS from being a fatal condition into a chronic condition. Horwitz also developed didanosine and stauvidine, antiviral drugs that are used to treat HIV/AIDS.1919-01-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 Jan 1919 | | Jerome P Horwitz was bornHorwitz | Karmanos Institute |
Tsvet was a Russian-Italian botanist who is credited with the invention of adsorption chromatography. He first described the method in 1901. His technique involved using ether and alcohol to extract plant pigments from leaves and then passing the resulting solution through a column of calcium carbonate. The advantage of the process was that it separated pigments into different coloured bands. By using the process Tsvet was able to demonstrate that plants had two forms of chlorophyll and eight additional pigments. Chromatography is now an important laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture. 1919-06-26T00:00:00+0000| 26 Jun 1919 | | Mikhail S Tsvet diedTsvet | University of Warsaw, Warsaw Technical University |
Fischer was a German chemist who opened up the era of biochemistry by clarifying the structure of sugars and enzymes and elaborating how they were formed. In 1902 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for demonstrating the structure of biological compounds, including sugars proteins and purines. He synthesised many natural occurring molecules for the first time, including glucose, caffeine, and uric acid. In addition, he managed to synthesis several amino acids and created small chains of them as precursors to protein formation. Fisher is also associated with the idea of the 'lock and key' mechanism which is used to explain how enzymes catalyse certain reactions and not others. 1919-07-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Jul 1919 | | Hermann Emil Fischer diedFischer | University of Berlin |
Benesch was a biochemist. He is best known for the discovery he made with his wife, Ruth Benesch in 1967 which showed how haemoglobin transports oxygen during respiration. They demonstrated that 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, an organic phosphorous compound, plays a pivotal role in loosening the bonds between haemoglobin and oxygen which improves the flow of oxygen from blood to the tissues. Their work opened up a new era in research on the physiology of respiratory carriage and new insights into sickle-cell anaemia. 1919-08-13T00:00:00+0000| 13 Aug 1919 | | Reinhold Benesch was born in PolandBenesch | Columbia Univesity |
Fischer is a biochemist. He is best known for helping to discover and describe reversible protein phosphorylation, a biological and chemical reaction that regulates the activities of cell proteins. This he did with Edwin Krebs at the University of Washington. Their work helped illustrate how life exists at the cellular level. They were both awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1992.1920-04-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Apr 1920 | | Edmond H Fischer was born in Shanghai, ChinaFischer | University of Washington |
Merrifield was a biochemist and organic chemist. In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for inventing a process known as solid phase peptide synthesis. He developed the technique in 1965. It provided a methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix. By the mid-1960s he and his team had proved the method could be used to synthesise bradykinin, angiotensin, desamino-oxytocin and insulin. In 1969 they managed to synthesise the enzyme, ribonuclease A. This was the first proof of the chemical nature of enzymes. Merrifield's method is now a rountine method for automatically synthesising large proteins, novel nucleotides, or short fragments of DNA.1921-07-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Jul 1921 | | Robert Bruce Merrifield born in Fort Worth, Texas, USAMerrifield | Rockefeller Institute |
Takamine was a Japanese scientist. He was the first to isolate and purify the hormone adrenalin from animal glands. It was the first effective bronchodilator for asthma. This he achieved in 1901 while working for the division of chemistry at the Department of Agriculture and Commerce in Japan. It was the first pure hormone isolated from a natural source. 1922-07-22T00:00:00+0000| 22 Jul 1922 | | Jokichi Takamine diedTakamine | |
Cohen is a biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for helping to isolate the nerve growth factor that induces the differentiation of nerve tissue. In 1993 he discovered epidermal growth factor, a protein that stimulates cell growth and differentiation. Cohen's research on cellular growth factors has provided new avenues for understanding cancer growth and enabled the design of new treatments for cancer. 1922-11-17T00:00:00+0000| 17 Nov 1922 | | Stanley Cohen was born in Brooklyn, NY, USACohen | Vanderbilt University |
Benesch was a biochemist who helped discover how haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, transports oxygen from the lungs to all cells in the body. This she did with her husband Reinhold in 1967. They subsequently made important breakthroughs into the formation of sickle cells, the cause of sickle-cell anaemia, using the electron microscope. Ruth was one of the 10,000 Jewish children who escaped Nazi Germany to England as part of the Kindertransport programme. 1925-02-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Feb 1925 | | Ruth Erica (Leroi) Benesch was born in Paris, FranceBenesch | Columbia Univesity |
Rose was a biochemist who shared the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for contributing to understandings about how cells break down proteins. He first became interested in the puzzle of how cells identify and destroy unwanted proteins in the 1950s. In the late 1970s he showed that ubiquitin, a protein present in countless tissues, helped tag other proteins that needed to be destroyed. It would then attach itself to another protein that was no longer functioning and take it to the proteasome chamber to be broken down and recycled. Rose also helped in the development of a drug to treat multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. The drug works by disrupting the protein disposal mechanism and kills the cancer cells with a pile-up of protein.1926-07-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 Jul 1926 | | Irwin Rose was born in Brooklyn NY, USARose | University of California Irvine |
Schally was an endocrinologist who won the 1977 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for isolating and synthesising three hormones produced by the hypothalmus in the brain which control the activities of hormone producing glands. The hormones he worked on were TRH (thyrotropin-releasing hormone), LHRH (luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone), and the peptide somatostatin. His work led to recognition of the hypothalmus as the controlling factor of the pituitary gland and opened a new chapter for research into fertility, contraception, diabetes, abnormal growth, mental retardation as well as depression and other mental disorders. 1926-11-30T00:00:00+0000| 30 Nov 1926 | | Andrew V Schally was born in Wilno (now Vilnius), Poland (now Lithuania)Schally | Veterans Administration Hospital |
Gilbert is a molecular biologist. He was involved in some of the early efforts to pioneer techniques for determining base sequences in nucleic acids, known known as DNA sequencing, for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1980. He was the first scientist to propose the existence of intron and exons. In 1986 Gilbert became a proponent of the theory that the first forms of life evolved out of replicating RNA molecules. The same year he began campaigning to set up the Human Genome Project. He was also a co-founder and the first Chief Executive Officer of Biogen, a biotechnology company originally set up to commercialise genetic engineering.1932-03-21T00:00:00+0000| 21 Mar 1932 | | Walter Gilbert was born in Boston MA, USAGilbert | Harvard University, Biogen |
Sanuelson is a Swedish biochemist who helped isolate, identify and determine the function of prostaglandins. These are a family group of compounds that regulate blood pressure, body temperature, allergic reactions and other physiological actions in mammals. He also discovered a number of new prostaglandins, including thrombaxane, which helps with blood clotting and the contraction of blood vessels. The bulk of this work he did in the 1960s and 1970s, for which he was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize for Medicine. His later work concerned leukotrienes, a group of lipids closely related to prostaglandins that are involved in inflammation, looking for agents that could inhibit their actions. 1934-05-21T00:00:00+0000| 21 May 1934 | | Bengt I Samuelsson was born in Halmstad, SwedenSamuelson | Karolinska Institute |
Macleod was a Scottish physician and biochemist who was a key adviser in the original experiments carried out by Frederick Grant Banting Charles Best to establish the use of insulin as a treatment for diabetes. Macleod provided the laboratory space and experimental animals for the work. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for helping develop insulin therapy for diabetes in 1923. 1935-03-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 Mar 1935 | | John J R Macleod diedMacleod | University of Aberdeen |
Hershko is a biochemist who shared the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovering the ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. In this process the ubiquitin protein attaches itself to unwanted proteins during cell division, helping to remove those that are no longer useful. In addition to aiding cell division, ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation plays a role in many other critical biochemical processes and disease can set in when it does not work normally. Cystic fibrosis is one example of a disease that results from the malfunctioning of the protein-degradation system. 1937-12-31T00:00:00+0000| 31 Dec 1937 | | Avram Hershko was born in Karcag, HungaryHershko | Technion–Israel Institute of Technology |
Chlorophyll is a natural green pigment that is responsible for photosynthesis in plants. It was patented by Benjamin Gruskin at Temple University. He proposed that chlorophyll could be used as a topical treatment or injected into the bloodstream tissues to kill off bacteria. Chlorophyll molecules are now used as a photosensitiser for cancer therapy.1938-06-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 Jun 1938 | | Patent awarded on chlorophyll as a therapeutic agent to treat bacterial infectionsGruskin | Temple University |
A biochemist and physicist, Wurtrich won the Nobel Prize in Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2002
for developing nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the 3D structure of large biological molecules in solution. The method involved placing a small sample in a very strong magnetic field and subjecting it to radio waves. The structure is worked out by working out the radio waves emitted by the nuclei of certain atoms in the molecule. 1938-10-04T00:00:00+0000| 4 Oct 1938 | | Kurt Wuthrich was born Aarberg, SwitzerlandWuthrich | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology |
Yonath is a biochemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 for helping to map the structure of ribosomes, the molecule that helps translate RNA into protein. She started the research in the 1970s using x-ray crystallography. By 2001 she had worked out the complete high-resolution of structures of both ribosomal subunits and discovered a region important to the process of polypeptide polymerisation. In addition to this work Yonath had elucidated the modes of action of over 20 different antibiotics that target the ribsome, which has provided insights into the mechanisms of drug resistance and antibiotic sensitivity. 1939-06-22T00:00:00+0000| 22 Jun 1939 | | Ada E Yonath was born in Jerusalem, Palestine (now Israel)Yonath | Weizmann Institute |
Goldstein was a biochemist who shared the 1985 Nobel Prize for Medicine with Michael S Brown for discovering how cholesterol metabolism is regulated. They worked out that human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that extract cholesterol from the bloodstream. Insufficient LDL receptors are associated with familial hypercholesterolomia which heavily predisposes sufferers to cholesterol-related disease. Their work helped lay the foundation for the development of statin drugs to lower cholesterol. 1940-04-18T00:00:00+0000| 18 Apr 1940 | | Joseph L Goldstein was born in Sumter, South Carolina, USAGoldstein | University of Texas |
Harden was one of the key founders of British biochemistry. He won the 1929 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for working out the importance of two enzymes and phosphoric acid during the fermentation process. These he discovered while investigating the fermentation of sugars by bacteria, a project undertaken between 1900 and 1914 that was designed to find a way of differentiating between different groups of Escherichia coli. The work involved grinding bacteria and extracting the intracellular juices.
1940-06-17T00:00:00+0000| 17 Jun 1940 | | Arthur Harden diedHarden | London University |
Steitz is a biochemist and biophysicist who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for elucidating the atomic structure and function of ribosomes, tiny particles made up of RNA and proteins involved in protein synthesis. He and colleagues determined this in 2000 using x-ray crystallography. The work opened up a new pathway to the discovery and development of new classes of antibiotics. 1940-08-23T00:00:00+0000| 23 Aug 1940 | | Thomas A Steitz was born in Milwaukee, WI, USASteitz | Yale University |
Walker shared the 1997 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for describing the enzymatic process that creates adenosine triphosphate, an energy-carrying molecule found in the cells of all living things. He started work in this area in the 1970s and by 1994 had managed to work out with colleagues the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme using x-ray crystallography. 1941-01-07T00:00:00+0000| 7 Jan 1941 | | John E Walker was born in Halifax, United KingdomWalker | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Brown is a geneticist who shared the 1985 Nobel Prize with Joseph L Goldstein for discovering how cholesterol metabolism is regulated. They determined that human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that extract cholesterol from the bloodstream. Insufficient LDL receptors are associated with familial hypercholesterolomia which heavily predisposes sufferers to cholesterol-related disease. Their work helped lay the foundation for the development of statin drugs to lower cholesterol. 1941-04-13T00:00:00+0000| 13 Apr 1941 | | Michael S Brown was born in New York, USABrown | University of Texas |
Banting was a Canadian physician who helped discover and isolate insulin. He also pioneered the extraction of insulin from pigs and cattle and demonstrated its use to treat diabetes in dogs. In 1923 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this work.
1944-02-21T00:00:00+0000| 21 Feb 1944 | | Frederick Grant Banting diedBanting | University of Toronto |
Hopkins was a British biochemist who shared the 1929 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering vitamins and demonstrating they are an important nutrient in the diet. This was based on experiments he carried out on rats in 1901. He also helped establish the chemistry of muscle contraction, showing that lactic acid accumulates in working muscle in 1907. In 1922 he isolated and demonstrated the importance of tripeptide gluathione to the utilisation of oxygen by the cell. 1947-05-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 May 1947 | | Frederick Gowland Hopkins diedHopkins | Cambridge University |
Michel is a biochemist who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for determining the structure of proteins essential for photosynthesis. This was based on experiments he help conduct between 1982 and 1985 which involved the use of x-ray crystallography to determine the three-dimensional structure of a protein complex found in certain photosynthetic baceria. 1948-07-18T00:00:00+0000| 18 Jul 1948 | | Hartmut Michel was born in Ludwigsburg, West GermanyMichel | |
Tsien was a Chinese-American biochemist who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery and development of genetically programmable fluorescent tags. These multicoloured fluorescent proteins, developed in Tsien's laboratory between 1994 and 1998, provide a means to observe in real-time different phenomena in living cells and organisms, including gene expression, protein-protein interactions, cell division, chromosome replication and organisation, intracellular pathways, organelle inheritance and biogenesis. 1952-02-01T00:00:00+0000| 1 Feb 1952 | | Roger Y Tsien was born in New York, USATsien | University of California San Diego |
An American biochemist, Cohn developed a fractionation technique to separate blood into its components, paving the way to safer blood transfusion. During World War II he worked out methods for isolating serum albumin from blood plasma which is crucial to maintaining osmotic pressure in blood vessels and preventing their collapse. Thousands of soldiers were successfully treated on the battlefield with transfusions of purified albumin. Cohn subsequently developed mechanisms so that every component of blood could be used in transfusions.1953-10-01T00:00:00+0000| 1 Oct 1953 | | Edwin J Cohn diedCohn | Harvard University |
Fleming was a Scottish biologist and microbiologist. He first made his mark through his discovery of lysosyme in 1923. This is an enzyme produced in the tears, saliva, mucus and human milk which is an important part of the immune system. Today he is best known for having found penicillin, a mould subsequently developed as the first antibiotic drug to treat bacterial diseases. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945 for this discovery.1955-03-11T00:00:00+0000| 11 Mar 1955 | | Alexander Fleming diedFleming | London University |
Sumner was an American biochemist who showed that enzymes are proteins and can be crystalised for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946. He crystalised his first enzyme, urease, in 1926. This he achieved by mixing purified urease with acetone and then chilling it. Using chemical tests he showed the enzyme was a protein. His work provided the first proof that enzymes were proteins. 1955-08-12T00:00:00+0000| 12 Aug 1955 | | James B Sumner diedSumner | Cornell University |
Moore was an American zoologist who devoted his career to studying the reoproductive tract of male mammals and the physiology of spermatozoa. He played a pivotal role in 1929 in isolating the testicular secretion containing the male sex hormones andresterone and testosterone. This discovery opened up the path to researching the chemical composition of the hormones and their production. 1955-10-16T00:00:00+0000| 16 Oct 1955 | | Carl R Moore diedC Moore | University of Chicago |
MacKinnon is a molecular neurobiologist amnd biophysicist. In 1998 he helped to establish the 3-D structure of a potassium ion channel - a protein linked to transmitting electrical signals down the nerve and muscle cells. Such channels are important to the nervous system and the heart. They enable potassium ions to cross the cell membrane. By using X-ray crystallography MacKinnon and his colleagues managed to work out the structure of a potassium ion channel from an actinobacteria Streptomyces lividans. MacKinnon was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2003 on the basis of this work. 1956-02-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 Feb 1956 | | Roderick MacKinnon was born in Burlington MA, USAMackinnon | Rockefeller University |
Gerty Cori, nee Radnitz, was the third woman to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine and the first woman in America to do so. She shared the prize in 1947 with her husband Cari Cori, for discovering how the body metabolises glycogen, which is important to how the body stores energy. Born into a Jewish Czech family, Cori studied medicine at the Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prague, an unusual path for a woman at the time. Throughout her career Cori experienced difficulties because she was a woman. In 1921 she was threatened with dismissal by the director of Roswell Park Cancer Institute if she continued her collaborative research with her husband, Later she struggled to be appointed full-professor at Washington University St Louuis, a position she gained only months before she won the Nobel Prize.1957-10-26T00:00:00+0000| 26 Oct 1957 | | Gerty Theresa Cori diedG Cori | Washington University in St Louis |
Windraus was a German steroid chemist who helped discover 7-dehydrocholesterol, the chemical precursor of vitamin D in 1926. He showed that exposure to sunlight converted the molecule into vitamin D. His finding explained why sunlight was important to preventing rickets, a bone disease that afflicts humans who have a vitamin D deficiency. In 1928 Windraus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sterols and their relation to vitamins. He also helped work out the chemical steps involved in the transformation of cholesterol to vitamin D3
1959-06-09T00:00:00+0000| 9 Jun 1959 | | Adolf O R Windaus died Windraus | University of Innsbruck, University of Gottingen |
Euler-Chelpin was a Geman-born Swedish biochemist who shared the Nobel Prize in 1929 for working out the role of enzymes in the fermentation of sugar. His work laid the foundation for understanding the important processes that take place in the muscles for supplying energy. He also helped show that colouring agents like betacaronoids in vegetables get transformed into vitamin A in the body. 1964-11-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Nov 1964 | | Hans von Euler-Chelpin diedEuler-Chelpin | Stockholm University |
Hench was a physician who helped discover cortisone, a hormone of the adrenal cortex, and demonstrate its utility for treating rheumatoid arthritis. He headed up the Department of Rheumatic Diseases at the the Mayo Clinic. Early on he hypothesised that steroids could alleviate the pain associated with the disease, but the difficulty and expense of production hindered his ability to try out his theory. The clinical trials were finally carried out in 1948 and 1949. Hench was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in 1950.1965-03-30T00:00:00+0000| 30 Mar 1965 | | Philip Showalter Hench diedHench | Mayo Clinic |
Collip was a Canadian biochemist refined methods to remove and purify insulin. By experimenting with bovine pancreas in 1921, Colip found a way of producing insulin in a form that was suitable for clinical use in patients. He subsequently managed to isolate the parathyroid hormone that regulates serum calcium through its effects on bone, kidney and intestine. In addition he devised a method for measuring serum calcium. 1965-06-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 Jun 1965 | | James B Collip diedCollip | University of Toronto, McGill University |
Kuhn was an Austrian-Hungarian biochemist who won the 1938 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on carostenoids, a group of nonnitrogenous yellow, orange and red pigments found in nature. One of these he found to be necessary for the fertilisation of certain algae. He was also awarded the Prize based on his work to determine the constitution of vitamin B2 which he also isolated. He later also helped isolate vitamin B6. Initially Kuhn turned down the Nobel Prize because he was forbidden to accept it by the Nazis with whom he collaborated in the denouncement of three of his Jewish colleagues. He finally accepted the Prize after World War II. Kuhn is also credited with the discovery of Soman, a deadly nerve agent, in 1944.1967-08-01T00:00:00+0000| 1 Aug 1967 | | Richard Kuhn diedKuhn | University of Heidelberg |
Hinshelwood was a British physical chemist who shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1956 for helping to work out chemical reaction rates and reaction mechanisms. He subsequently did a lot of work on how environmental conditions affected the growth of bacterial cells. His findings on the relationship between the environment and chemical changes inside bacteria cells provided an important pathway to understanding the mechanisms behind bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
1967-10-09T00:00:00+0000| 9 Oct 1967 | | Cyril N Hinshelwood diedHinshelwood | Oxford University, Imperial College London |
Stanley was an American biochemist and virologist. In 1935 he managed to crystalise the tobacco virus, the causative agent of plant disease. This was a major breakthrough because prior to this no scientists had succeeded in finding out what viruses were. His work laid the foundation for other scientists, using x-ray diffraction, to work out the precise molecular structures and reproduction process of several viruses. During World War II he managed to purify several of the most common influenza viruses and developed a vaccine that was partly effective. In 1946 he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the 'preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form.' 1971-06-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Jun 1971 | | Wendell M Stanley diedStanley | Rockefeller Institute |
A Swedish biochemist, Tiselius devised electrophoresis, a technique used to separate charged macromolecules like DNA, RNA and proteins according to their size. Electrophoresis is a chromatography technique that uses an electric field to separate a mixture of charged molecules. Tiselius also pioneered synthetic blood plasma. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1948 on the back of this work.1971-10-29T00:00:00+0000| 29 Oct 1971 | | Arne W K Tiselius diedTiselius | Uppsala University |
du Vigneaud was an American biochemist whose research focused on sulfur, proteins and peptides. In late 1940s he helped isolate and synthesise two pituitary hormones: vasopressin and oxytocin. Vasopressin is an antidiurtic hormone that helps protect cells from sudden increases or decreases in water which can affect the cell's function. Oxytocin is a neurohormone that helps contract the uterus during labour and stimulate the secretion of milk during lactation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1955 for this work. Prior to this, in the 1930s, he helped identify the chemical structure of insulin and worked out the structure of biotin, a sulfur-bearing vitamin.1978-12-11T00:00:00+0000| 11 Dec 1978 | | Vincent du Vigneaud dieddu Vigneaud | Cornell University |
Lynen was a German biochemist who was director of the Max Plank Institute for Cellular Chemistry. He helped determine the chemical mechanism for the production and regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for this work. His findings opened the pathway to understanding the role of cholesterol in heart disease and stroke. 1979-08-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Aug 1979 | | Feodor Lynen diedLynen | Max-Planck-Institute for Cellular Chemistry |
Stein was an American biochemist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize for contributing to understanding the composition and functioning of ribonuclease, an enzyme that catalyses the break down of RNA into smaller components. It was the first structure and sequence worked out for any enzyme. Stein carried out the work with his colleague Stanford Moore in 1963. The two scientists were aided by their invention of the first means for automated amino acid analysis. In addition to his work on ribonuclease, Stein showed how proteins that are comprised of the same amino acids can have very different characteristics and functions.1980-02-02T00:00:00+0000| 2 Feb 1980 | | William H Stein diedStein | Rockefeller University |
Krebs was a biochemist who in 1933 was forced to leave Nazi Germany because his father was Jewish. He is best known for having discovered two important chemical reactions in the body - the urea cycle and the citric acid cycle. These chemical reactions help break down food molecules into carbon dioxide, water and energy. He made the breakthrough in the 1930s. The process is known as the Krebs cycle. Krebs was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954.1981-11-22T00:00:00+0000| 22 Nov 1981 | | Hans Adolf Krebs diedKrebs | University of Freiburg, Cambridge University, Sheffield University, Oxford University |
Theorell trained in medicine and dedicated his career to understanding enzymes. He won the 1955 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning the nature and mode of action of oxidation enzymes.' He made the breakthrough in 1935. He was able to show that a yellow-coloured enzyme had two parts, both of which were essential to its function. Kossel's work laid the foundation for advances in understanding ADH enzymes which break down alcohol in the kidney.
1982-08-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Aug 1982 | | Axel H T Theorell diedTheorell | Karolinska Institutet, |
An American biochemist, Moore helped develop the first automated amino acid analyser in 1958. The machine transformed the ability to analyse the amino acid sequences of proteins. Together with William H Stein, Moore used the machine to determine the amino acid sequence of the ribonuclease molecule. Moore shared the 1972 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for this work.
1982-08-23T00:00:00+0000| 23 Aug 1982 | | Stanford Moore diedMoore | Rockefeller University |
Collip was a Canadian biochemist refined methods to remove and purify insulin. By experimenting with bovine pancreas in 1921, Colip found a way of producing insulin in a form that was suitable for clinical use in patients. He subsequently managed to isolate the parathyroid hormone that regulates serum calcium through its effects on bone, kidney and intestine. In addition he devised a method for measuring serum calcium.
1982-11-20T00:00:00+0000| 20 Nov 1982 | | James B Collip was born in Belleville, Ontario, CanadaCollip | University of Toronto, McGill University |
Harger was an American biochemist and toxicologist who invented the the first practical test for measuring alcohol levels in drivers. He developed this in 1931. Known as the Drunkometer, the test collected a sample of a driver's breath directly into a balloon. This was then pumped into an acidifed potassium permanganate solution. If any alcohol was present in the sample the solution changed colour. Harger's test greatly helped reduce the number of road deaths from drunk driving.1983-08-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Aug 1983 | | Rolla N Harger diedHarger | Indiana University School of Medicine |
Lehmann was a biochemist renowned for his studies on the distribution of abnormal haemoglobins in many different human populations. This grew out of his interest in anaemia, begun when he served as assistant director of pathology to the North East India Command between 1942 and 1947. He helped to discover that a high incidence in the sickle-cell trait in several aboriginal southern Indian populations. Based on his work he hypothesised that the gene for the trait could have been brought to Africa from India during prehistoric migrations.1985-07-13T00:00:00+0000| 13 Jul 1985 | | Hermann Lehmann diedLehmann | St Bartholomew's Hospital, Cambridge University |
Rose was an American biochemist and nutrition. He isolated the amino acid threonine in 1932 and demonstrated in rats that a diet that lacked the amino acid stunted their growth. By 1949 he had established that ten amino acids were vital to human health: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. Based on this work he was appointed to the US Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council which drew up dietary recommendations.
1985-09-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Sep 1985 | | William Cumming Rose diedRose | University of Illinois |
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was a Hungarian-American biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937 for isolating vitamin C and determining the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. He subsequently worked on the biophysics of muscle movement and discovered that biochemical nature of muscular contraction. His findings revolutionised the field of muscle research. Later on he explored the connections between free radicals and cancer.1986-10-22T00:00:00+0000| 22 Oct 1986 | | Albert Szent-Gyorgyi von Nagyrapolt diedSzent-Gyorgyi | Szeged University, National Institutes of Health |
Doisy was a biochemist who helped isolate two forms of vitamin K and determine their chemical structure in 1936-39, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1943. The fact that Vitamin K helps promote blood-clotting means it is used widely in surgery and medicine. Doisy also helped isolate the sex hormones estrone (1929), estriol (1935), and estradiol (1935).
1986-10-23T00:00:00+0000| 23 Oct 1986 | | Edward A Doisy diedDoisy | St Louis University |
Benesch was a Polish-American Jewish biochemist. He is best known for the discovery he made with his wife, Ruth Benesch in 1967 which showed how haemoglobin transports oxygen during respiration. They demonstrated that 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, an organic phosphorous compound, plays a pivotal role in loosening the bonds between haemoglobin and oxygen which improves the flow of oxygen from blood to the tissues. Their work opened up a new era in research on the physiology of respiratory carriage and new insights into sickle-cell anaemia.1986-12-30T00:00:00+0000| 30 Dec 1986 | | Reinhold Benesch diedBenesch | Columbia Univesity |
Northrop shared the 1946 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for helping to develop the technique for purifying and crystallising enzymes and virus proteins. His work showed that enzymes obey the laws of chemical reactions and that they are proteins. In 1930 he crystallised pepsin, an enzyme present in gastric juice necessary for digestion. Eight years later he isolated the first bacterial virus (bacteriophage). This he proved to be a nucleoprotein. Other enzymes that he managed to isolate and crystalise were trypsin and chymotrypsin, both important to the digestive process. 1987-05-27T00:00:00+0000| 27 May 1987 | | John H Northrop diedNorthrop | Rockefeller Institute |
Leloir was an Argentinian physician and biochemist who won the 1970 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for identifying nucleotides that are fundamental to the metabolism of carbohydrates. He made the discovery in 1948 while working with colleagues at the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de la Fundación Campomar. While strapped for resources and equipment, Leloir and his team managed to determine the chemical origins of sugar synthesis in yeast and the oxidation of fatty acids in the liver. Leloir was the founder and director of the Instituto Campomar from 1947 to 1987. He was responsible for transforming the institute into an internationally renowned research hub for biochemistry.1987-12-02T00:00:00+0000| 2 Dec 1987 | | Luis F Leloir diedLeloir | Institute for Biochemical Research |
Gwei-djen was a Chinese biochemist who undertook pioneering work on metabolic pathways. In 1933, Gwei-djen took the bold decision to leave China, then isolated from the West, to study for a doctorate at Cambridge University where she remained for the rest of her career. By 1939 she had developed the first sensitive assay for detecting low levels of pyruvic acid, an intermediate involved in the breakdown of carbohydrates. Her work demonstrated that the levels of pyruvic acid could be raised by vitamin B1 deficiency and exercise. Gwei-djen worked closely with both Dorothy and Joseph Needham. Together with Joseph she compiled a series of book detailing Chinese achievements in science and technology. .1991-11-28T00:00:00+0000| 28 Nov 1991 | | Lu Gwei-djen diedGwei-djen | University of Cambridge |
Dorothy Hodgkin, was a British chemist who pioneered protein crystallography, a technique the uses x-ray crystallography to determine the three dimensional structure of protein crystals. She used the technique to confirm the structure of penicillin, in 1945, for which she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. Hodgkin was the third woman to win the Nobel Prize. In addition to penicillin, Hodgkin published the first structure of a steroid and deciphered the structure of vitamin B12 and insulin. Her protein crystallography technique is now an essential tool for research into structural biology.1994-07-29T00:00:00+0000| 29 Jul 1994 | | Dorothy M Crowfoot Hodgkin diedD Hodgkin | Oxford University |
Synge was an English biochemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the invention of liquid-liquid paper partition chromatography, a technique used to separate mixtures of closely related chemicals such as amino acids. The technique revolutionised analytical chemistry. By 1948 Synge had managed to work out the exact structure of S gramicidin, a simple protein molecule, using the partition technique. Fred Sanger used this work in his elucidation of the structure of insulin in 1955.
1994-08-18T00:00:00+0000| 18 Aug 1994 | | Richard L M Synge diedSynge | Rowett Research Institute |
The child of Polish-Jewish parents, Reichstein was a chemist who in 1933 managed to synthesise vitamin C. His name is associated now with the industrial process for the artificial synthesis of vitamin C. In 1950 he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for helping to isolate and explain the function of the hormones of the adrenal cortex and its therapeutic value for treating rheumatoid arthritis. He spent the last three decades of his life working on the phytochemistry and cytology of ferns. '.1996-08-01T00:00:00+0000| 1 Aug 1996 | | Tadeus Reichstein diedReichstein | Basel University |
A biochemist, Calvin shared the 1961 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for helping to demonstrate the chemical pathways of photosynthesis. Using the radioactive isotope carbon-14 as a tracer he was able to show the carbon movements through a plant during the photosynthesis process. He began his work on photosynthesis in 1946. Prior to this Calvin and his wife, Genevieve Jentegaard, investigated the chemical factors in the RH blood group system and managed to determine the structure of one of the Rh antigens.1997-01-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Jan 1997 | | Melvin Calvin diedCalvin | University of California Berkeley |
Kendrew was an English biochemist and crystallogapher. He is best known for having elucidated the structure of myoglobin, a protein that stores oxygen in muscle cells, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in 1962. In 1963 he helped found the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and later was its director. For many years he was also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Molecular Biology,1997-08-23T00:00:00+0000| 23 Aug 1997 | | John C Kendrew diedKendrew | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Folkers was an American biochemist who is best known for his role in the isolation of vitamin B12, which was inspired by the discovery it could help in the treatment of pernicious anaemia. This he did in the late 1940s while working in the research laboratories of Merck and Co. Folkers and his team at Merck went on to discover mevalonic acid, which plays a key role in the production of numerous important biochemical compounds, including carotenoids, steroids, and terpenes. They also isolated the two antibiotics: cathomycin and cyclorserine.1997-12-07T00:00:00+0000| 7 Dec 1997 | | Karl A Folkers diedkfolkers.jpg | Merck & Co |
Benesch was a biochemist who helped discover how haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, transports oxygen from the lungs to all cells in the body. This she did with her husband Reinhold in 1967. They subsequently made important breakthroughs into the formation of sickle cells, the cause of sickle-cell anaemia, using the electron microscope. Ruth was one of the 10,000 Jewish children who escaped Nazi Germany to England as part of the Kindertransport programme. 2000-03-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Mar 2000 | | Ruth Erica (Leroi) Benesch diedBenesch | Columbia Univesity |
Bloch was a German-American biochemist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for helping to uncover the mechanism and regulation of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. This work laid the foundation for understanding the relationship between blood cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up inside the body's arteries. 2000-10-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Oct 2000 | | Konrad Bloch diedBloch | Harvard University |
Perutz fled Austria in 1936 with his Jewish family just after he completed a degree in chemistry at the University of Vienna. Moving to Britain he became involved in X-ray crystallography at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, using the method to study the structure of proteins. In 1959 he managed to work out the structure of haemoglobin, the protein responsible for transporting oxygen in blood. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for this work in 1962. His research paved the way to understanding how the molecule switches between its deoxygenated and its oxygenated states and oxygen is taken up by muscles and other organs. Pertuz was also the founder and first director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biololgy in Cambridge, set up in 1962. 2002-02-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Feb 2002 | | Max F Perutz diedPerutz | Laboratory of Molecular Biology |
Bergstrom was a Swedish biochemist who shared the 1982 Nobel Prize for Medicine for isolating and elucidating the chemical structure of prostaglandins which is found in most tissues and organs in humans and mammals. Bergstrom helped show that prostaglandins form from unsaturated fatty acids and their important role in many physiological processes in the body, including causing inflammation after injury or illness, the clotting of blood and uterine contractions. His work revealed that prostaglandins act locally near their site of production, act differently in different tissues and are metabolised very quickly. This opened up new pathways for the treatment of heart disease, strokes and gastric ulcers. It also paved the way to the development of the morning-after pill and inhibitor compounds that help relieve the pain caused by menstruation, gallstones or kidney stones.2004-08-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Aug 2004 | | Sune K Bergstrom diedBergstrom | Karolinska Institute |
Merrifield was an American biochemist and organic chemist. In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for inventing a process known as solid phase peptide synthesis. He developed the technique in 1965. It provided a methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix. By the mid-1960s he and his team had proved the method could be used to synthesise bradykinin, angiotensin, desamino-oxytocin and insulin. In 1969 they managed to synthesise the enzyme, ribonuclease A. This was the first proof of the chemical nature of enzymes. Merrifield's method is now a rountine method for automatically synthesising large proteins, novel nucleotides, or short fragments of DNA. 2006-05-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 May 2006 | | Robert Bruce Merrifield diedMerrifield | Rockefeller Institute |
Horwitz was an American chemist who is best known for having synthesised the compound zidovudine (commonly called AZT). Originally Horwitz developed the compound to be an anti-cancer drug in 1964, but it failed to show anticancer activity. Other researchers discovered the drug could prolong the life of AIDS patients. Approved for AIDS in 1987 by the US FDA, AZT transformed AIDS from being a fatal condition into a chronic condition. Horwitz also developed didanosine and stauvidine, antiviral drugs that are used to treat HIV/AIDS.2012-09-06T00:00:00+0000| 6 Sep 2012 | | Jerome P Horwitz diedHorwitz | Karmanos Institute |
Levi-Montalcini is best known for sharing the Nobel Prize in 1986 for helping to discover and isolate the nerve growth factor which helps regulate the growth, maintenance, proliferation and survival of certian neurons. Banned by Mussolini from working in academia because she was Jewish, Levi-Montalcini conducted much of her early work in a makeshift laboratory in her bedroom. She later became the director of the Research Center of Neurobiology and the Laboratory of Cellular Biology in Washington University and founded the European Brain Research Institute.
2012-12-30T00:00:00+0000| 30 Dec 2012 | | Rita Levi-Montalcini diedLevi-Montalcini | Institute of Cell Biology of the CNR |
Rose was an American biochemist who shared the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for contributing to understandings about how cells break down proteins. He first became interested in the puzzle of how cells identify and destroy unwanted proteins in the 1950s. In the late 1970s he showed that ubiquitin, a protein present in countless tissues, helps tag other proteins that need to be destroyed. It then attaches itself to another protein that is no longer functioning and takes it to the proteasome chamber to be broken down and recycled. Rose also helped develop a drug to treat multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. The drug works by disrupting the protein disposal mechanism and kills the cancer cells with a pile-up of protein. 2015-06-03T00:00:00+0000| 3 Jun 2015 | | Irwin Rose diedRose | University of California Irvine |
Tsien was a Chinese-American biochemist who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery and development of genetically programmable fluorescent tags. These multicoloured fluorescent proteins, developed in Tsien's laboratory between 1994 and 1998, provide a means to observe in real-time different phenomena in living cells and organisms, including gene expression, protein-protein interactions, cell division, chromosome replication and organisation, intracellular pathways, organelle inheritance and biogenesis.2016-08-26T00:00:00+0000| 26 Aug 2016 | | Roger Y Tsien diedTsien | University of California San Diego |
Skou was a Danish biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1997 for discovering an ion-transporting enzyme called sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase (Na+-K+ ATPase), which is found in the plasma membrane of animal cells. The enzyme is important to the transport of molecules through a cell's membrane. Skou made the discovery in the late 1950s. A number of other similar ATPase-based enzymes were discovered later, including one that helps control muscle contraction.2018-05-28T00:00:00+0000| 28 May 2018 | | Jens C Skou diedSkou | Aarhus University |
Boyer was an American biochemist and analytical chemist renowned for helping to understand the enzymatic mechanism involved in the production of the energy-storage molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which fuels the metabolic processes of all living things. This he did in the 1970s whle based at UCLA where he was the founding director of the university's Molecular Biology Institute. In 1997 Boyer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on ATP synthesis.2018-06-02T00:00:00+0000| 2 Jun 2018 | | Paul D Boyer diedPaul Boyer | University of California, Los Angeles |
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