Photo: Edward A. Hubbard, National Institutes of Health — File:Christian B. Anfinsen, NIH portrait, 1969.jpg (Wikimedia Commons) · Public domain
Christian B. Anfinsen
1916–1995 · United States · Born 1900–1939
Nobel Chemistry 1972
American biochemist who proved that a protein's sequence alone dictates its folded shape, a cornerstone of molecular biology.
Nobel-winning work
Honoured for his work on ribonuclease and the link between amino-acid sequence and active conformation. By fully denaturing and then refolding the enzyme, Anfinsen showed that a protein's three-dimensional shape is determined by its sequence alone — the 'thermodynamic hypothesis' of protein folding.