Hartmut Michel (; born 18 July 1948) is a German
biochemist, who received the 1988
Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determination of the first crystal structure of an integral membrane protein, a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to
photosynthesis.
Education and early life
He was born on 18 July 1948 in
Ludwigsburg. After compulsory military service, he studied biochemistry at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...
, working for his final year at Dieter Oesterhelt's laboratory on
ATPase activity of
halobacteria
Haloarchaea (halophilic archaea, halophilic archaebacteria, halobacteria) are a class of the Euryarchaeota, found in water saturated or nearly saturated with salt. Halobacteria are now recognized as archaea rather than bacteria and are one of ...
.
Career and research
Hartmut later worked on the crystallisation of
membrane protein
Membrane proteins are common proteins that are part of, or interact with, biological membranes. Membrane proteins fall into several broad categories depending on their location. Integral membrane proteins are a permanent part of a cell membrane ...
s - essential for their structure elucidation by
X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
. He received 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 ...
jointly with
Johann Deisenhofer and
Robert Huber in 1988. 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
X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
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, revealed similarities between the photosynthetic processes of plants and bacteria and established a methodology for crystallising membrane proteins.
Since 1987 he has been director of the Molecular Membrane Biology department at
the
Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, Germany, and professor of biochemistry at the
Goethe University Frankfurt.
Awards and honours
In 1986, he received the
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
, which is the highest honour awarded in German research. In 1988, he received the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He received the Bijvoet Medal at the
Bijvoet Center 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 ...
of
Utrecht University in 1989. In 1995 he became a member of the
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He also became a foreign member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995.
He was elected a
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2005.
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Hartmut
1948 births
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Living people
German biochemists
Nobel laureates in Chemistry
German Nobel laureates
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Max Planck Society people
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt
Scientists from Frankfurt
Researchers of photosynthesis
Bijvoet Medal recipients
Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
University of Tübingen alumni
Max Planck Institute directors