Hartmut Michel
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Hartmut Michel
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1988
Born: 18 July 1948, Ludwigsburg, West Germany (now Germany)
Affiliation at the time of the award: Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Germany
Prize motivation: “for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
One of the most fundamental processes of life is photosynthesis, which uses energy from sunlight to make carbohydrates out of water and carbon dioxide. Hartmut Michel studied a bacterium that performs photosynthesis like green plants. The energy conversion takes place through the transportation of electrons via a number of proteins that are attached to special membranes in the cell. In 1982 Michel succeeded in crystallizing these types of proteins. The follow year he, along with Johann Deisenhofer and Robert Huber, determined the structure for the photosynthetic reaction center.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
