Konrad Emil Bloch | |
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.JPG) Bloch in 1964 | |
| Born | 21 January 1912 |
| Died | 15 October 2000(2000-10-15) (aged 88) |
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| Awards | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine(1964) Ernest Guenther Award(1965) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Chicago |
Konrad Emil BlochForMemRS[1] (German pronunciation:[ˈkɔnʁaːtˈblɔx]ⓘ; 21 January 1912 – 15 October 2000) was aGerman-Americanbiochemist. Bloch received theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1964 (joint withFeodor Lynen) for discoveries concerning the mechanism andregulation of thecholesterol andfatty acid metabolism.[2]
Bloch was born inNeisse (now Nysa,Poland), in theGerman Empire'sPrussianProvince of Silesia into aJewish family.[3] He was the second child of middle-class parents Hedwig (Striemer) and Frederich D. "Fritz" Bloch.[4] He was a studentCarolinum in Nysa and then 1930 to 1934, he studied chemistry at theTechnical University of Munich. In 1934, due to theNazi persecutions ofJews, he fled to theSchweizerische Forschungsinstitut inDavos,Switzerland, before moving to theUnited States in 1936. Later he was appointed to the department of biological chemistry atYale Medical School.
In the United States, Bloch enrolled atColumbia University, and received aPhD in biochemistry in 1938. He taught at Columbia from 1939 to 1946. From there he went to theUniversity of Chicago and then toHarvard University asHiggins Professor of Biochemistry in 1954, a post he held until 1982. From 1979 until 1984, he was a professor of science at theirSchool of Public Health.[5] After retirement at Harvard, he served as the Mack and Effie Campbell Tyner Eminent Scholar Chair in the College of Human Sciences atFlorida State University.[2]
Bloch shared theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1964 with his compatriatFeodor Lynen, for their discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of thecholesterol andfatty acid metabolism. Their work showed that the body first makessqualene from acetate over many steps and then converts the squalene to cholesterol. He traced all the carbon atoms in cholesterol back to acetate. Some of his research was conducted using radioactive acetate in bread mold: this was possible becausefungi also produce squalene. He confirmed his results using rats. He was one of several researchers who showed that acetylCoenzyme A is turned intomevalonic acid. Both Bloch and Lynen then showed that mevalonic acid is converted into chemically activeisoprene, the precursor to squalene.[6] Bloch also discovered that bile and a female sex hormone were made from cholesterol, which led to the discovery that all steroids were made from cholesterol.[7] His Nobel Lecture was "The Biological Synthesis of Cholesterol."[8]
In 1985, Bloch became a Fellow of theRoyal Society. In 1988, he was awarded theNational Medal of Science.[9] He was an elected member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences,[10] the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences,[11] and theAmerican Philosophical Society.[12]
Bloch and his wife Lore Teutsch first met in Munich. They married in the U.S. in 1941. They had two children, Peter Conrad Bloch and Susan Elizabeth Bloch, and two grandchildren, Benjamin Nieman Bloch and Emilie Bloch Sondel. They lived for many decades in themid-century modern enclaveSix Moon Hill inLexington, Massachusetts . He was fond of skiing, tennis, and music.[6] Konrad died inBurlington, Massachusetts of congestive heart failure in 2000, aged 88.[13] Lore Bloch died in 2010 aged 98.[14][15]
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