Johann Deisenhofer

Infobox Scientist
name = Johann Deisenhofer
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caption = Johann Deisenhofer
birth_date = September 30, 1943
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nationality = Germany
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field = Chemistry
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alma_mater = Technical University of Munich
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known_for = crystalography photosynthesis
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prizes = Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988
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Johann Deisenhofer (born September 30, 1943) is a German biochemist who, along with Hartmut Michel and Robert Huber, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988 for their determination of the structure of a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to photosynthesis [cite journal
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last=Shampo
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coauthors=Kyle R A
year=2000
month=Feb
title=Johann Deisenhofer--Nobel Laureate in chemistry
journal=Mayo Clin. Proc.
volume=75
issue=2
pages=164
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pmid = 10683655
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Deisenhofer earned his doctorate from the Technical University of Munich for research work done at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, West Germany, in 1974. He conducted research there until 1988, when he joined the scientific staff of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Together with Michel and Huber, Deisenhofer determined the three-dimensional structure of a protein complex found in certain photosynthetic bacteria. This membrane protein complex, called a photosynthetic reaction center, was known to play a crucial role in initiating a simple type of photosynthesis. Between 1982 and 1985, the three scientists used X-ray crystallography to determine the exact arrangement of the more than 10,000 atoms that make up the protein complex. Their research increased the general understanding of the mechanisms of photosynthesis and revealed similarities between the photosynthetic processes of plants and bacteria. [cite journal
author = J. Deisenhofer, O. Epp, K. Miki, R. Huber & H. Michel
title = Structure of the protein subunits in the photosynthetic reaction centre of Rhodopseudomonas viridis at 3Å resolution
year = 1985
volume= 318
issue = 6047
pages = 618–624
doi = 10.1038/318618a0 | journal = Nature]

Deisenhofer currently serves on the board of advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.

External links

* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1988/deisenhofer-autobio.html Autobiographical information at www.nobel.org]

References