Johannes Frederik Gerardus (Hans) Vliegenthart (born April 7, 1936 in Zuilen, the Netherlands) is a Dutch

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

professor in

bioorganic chemistry Bioorganic chemistry is a scientific discipline that combines organic chemistry and biochemistry. It is that branch of life science that deals with the study of biological processes using chemical methods. Protein and enzyme function are examples of ...

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, well known for his research on the synthesis and characterisation of

carbohydrates In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...

, and

biomolecule A biomolecule or biological molecule is a loosely used term for molecules present in organisms that are essential to one or more typically biological processes, such as cell division, morphogenesis, or development. Biomolecules include large ...

s containing sugar moieties such as glycoproteins and their role in living

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

Biography

Hans Vliegenthart was born in Zuilen, the Netherlands in 1936. He studied chemistry at

from 1953 to 1960, where he also received his PhD degree in 1967, under supervision of prof. Arens. In 1975, he was appointed lector (a defunct Dutch academic role that changed to professor in 1980) bio-organic chemistry at Utrecht University and was full professor at Utrecht University from 1984 until 2003. From 1999 until 2004, he was also the chairman of the Utrecht University Fund and he still awards every year the Vliegenthart Thesis Award. In 1988, the founded the

Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research The Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research is a research institute at Utrecht University. The Bijvoet Centre performs research on the relation between the structure and function of biomolecules, including proteins and lipids, which play a role ...

at Utrecht University, and he served as the scientific director of the institute until 2000. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry from 1985 to 1989 and from 2000 to 2003 and in 2003 he became Honorary Professor at Utrecht University. Since 2010, he is the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Bijvoet Centrr.

Research

The research of Vliegenthart focused on the synthesis and characterisation of

, glycoproteins,

glycolipids Glycolipids are lipids with a carbohydrate attached by a glycosidic (covalent) bond. Their role is to maintain the stability of the cell membrane and to facilitate cellular recognition, which is crucial to the immune response and in the connec ...

and

proteoglycan Proteoglycans are proteins that are heavily glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core protein" with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain(s). The point of attachment is a serine (Ser) residue to whic ...

s and their role in living

. He is most famous for his work on the analysis of the primary and three-dimensional structures of carbohydrates and glycoproteins using technologies such as

NMR spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fiel ...

, chromatography and other analytical methods. Vliegenthart applied his knowledge on carbohydrates to various fields of biology and medicine, such as research into blood types, which are largely determined by carbohydrates on

red blood cells Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek language, Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''k ...

, synthetic

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...

s to protect against Streptococcus pneumoniae and the role of sugar molecules in

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

growth.

Honours and awards

Throughout his career, Vliegenthart has received numerous honours and awards. He has been a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

since 1987, which allows him to nominate people for the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

. In 1989, Vliegenthart became honorary member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, for his contributions to biochemistry and molecular biology, not only in the Netherlands, but at the highest international level. Vliegenthart has been a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

of the Netherlands since 1990. In 1992, he received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the Lajos Kossuth University in Debrecen, Hungary, nowadays known as the

University of Debrecen ThUniversity of Debrecen( hu, Debreceni Egyetem) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its ...

. In 1993

Lille University of Science and Technology , image_name = Lilliad Learning Center Innovation.jpg , image_size = , caption = Université de Lille I , established = 1559, 1854, 1970 , type = Public: science and technology , president ...

in France bestowed him with an honorary doctorate for his contribution to the structural analysis of carbohydrate chains. Vliegenthart was awarded the

Claude S. Hudson Award Claude Silbert Hudson (January 26, 1881 – December 27, 1952) was an American chemist who is best known for his work in the area of carbohydrate chemistry. He is also the namesake of the Claude S. Hudson Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry given ...

in Carbohydrate Chemistry of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

in 1994. In 1997, the University of Stockholm in Sweden awarded him an honorary doctorate. He became Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 1998. In 2000, he received the Bijvoet Medal of the

. The

University of Rome Tor Vergata Tor Vergata University of Rome, also known as the University of Rome II ( it, Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata"), is a public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. Located in the southeastern suburb of Rome, the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

awarded him their medal in 2001 and his alma mater, Utrecht University, awarded him their silver medal in 2003. In October 2017, the Council of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

(AAAS) elected Vliegenthart as a Fellow of AAAS for his contributions to science and technology in its Section on Biological Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vliegenthart, J.F.G. 1936 births Living people 20th-century Dutch chemists Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Utrecht University Bijvoet Medal recipients Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion