Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen Biography

(Biochemist)

Birthday: April 6, 1911 (Aries)

Born In: Munich, Germany

Feodor Lynen was a German biochemist who jointly received the ‘Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine’ in 1964 with German American biochemist Konrad Bloch for their independent discoveries related to the mechanism and control of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. His research was centred on elucidation of the chemical analysis of metabolic procedures in living cells as also on the devices of metabolic regulation. The chemical structure of ‘acetyl coenzyme A’ or ‘acetyl-CoA’, a significant molecule that play a major part in metabolism, was discovered by him. He did his PhD from the ‘University of Munich’ where he went on to become the chemistry lecturer. He then served as assistant professor and thereafter as professor of biochemistry in the university. He was inducted as director of ‘Max-Planck Institute for Cellular Chemistry’ in Munich. Apart from the ‘Nobel Prize’, he received several other awards and honours for his contribution in scientific research. The ‘German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’ awarded him the ‘Otto Warburg Medal’ in 1963 and the ‘German Society for Fat Research’ awarded him the ‘Norman Medal’ in 1967. He was conferred the Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Sash of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1965. Lynen was also the recipient of the ‘Pour le Mérite for Science and Art’ in 1971 and the ‘Austrian Decoration for Science and Art’ in 1972.
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Quick Facts

German Celebrities Born In April

Also Known As: Feodor Lynen

Died At Age: 68

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Eva Wieland

father: Wilhelm Lynen

mother: Frieda Lynen

children: Annemarie, Eva-Maria, Heinrich, Peter

Biochemists German Men

Died on: August 6, 1979

place of death: Munich, Germany

Cause of Death: Surgery Complications

City: Munich, Germany

More Facts

education: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

awards: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1964)
Fellow of the Royal Society

Childhood & Early Life
He was born on April 6, 1911, in Munich, Germany, in the family of Wilhelm Lynen and Frieda Lynen as the seventh child among their eight children. His father was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the ‘Technical University of Munich’.
He completed his high school education from ‘Luitpold-Gymnasium’ in Munich. Following his interest in chemistry he enrolled at the ‘University of Munich’ in the chemistry department in 1930.
He came under the guidance of imminent professors like Heinrich Wieland, Walter Gerlach, Kasimir Fajans and Otto Hönigschmidt. Heinrich Wieland, a Nobel Laureate for chemistry, under whose guidance he completed his graduation, left a great impression on him and from this time on he got acquainted with the field of biochemistry.
He completed his PhD on February 12, 1937, after submitting his work ‘On the Toxic Substances in Amanita’.
Throughout the ‘Second World War’ he remained in Germany and never left his country.
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Career
He joined the ‘University of Munich’ as a chemistry lecturer in 1942 and after few years he was made the assistant professor in 1947. 1953 onwards he served as a professor of biochemistry.
He remained associated with the university till his death. During his tenure in the university he supervised research work of around ninety students of whom many achieved great heights in academia or industry.
In the 1940s he started examining the way living cell transforms simple chemical compounds into complex molecules like lipids and sterols, which are essential requirements for the body to maintain life.
After the ‘Second World War’, he began publishing his own scientific findings and also came to know about similar research being undertaken by Konrad Bloch in the US. With time the two scientists started sharing their findings with each other.
The repercussion of the ‘Second World War’ saw the American and European scientists spurning their German counterparts. Thus only four biochemists from Germany were invited, of whom Lynen was one, for the ‘First International Congress of Biochemistry’ that was held in July 1949 in Cambridge, UK. With his good nature and sound research work he caught attention of many. Years later in 1975 he was selected as President of the ‘Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’, which aimed at promoting good relation between international scientific community and Germany.
Lynen in Germany and Konrad Bloch in the US independently examined and thereby ascertained the sequence of steps applied by animal cells to develop cholesterol. They discovered that the body first forms squalene from acetate which would then be converted to cholesterol.
He published a paper in 1951 elucidating the first step in the series of reactions resulting in creation of cholesterol. He discovered that for the commencement of the chemical chain reaction, a compound called acetyl-coenzyme A, which forms when an acetate radical reacts with coenzyme A, was required.
Thus the chemical structure of ‘acetyl coenzyme A’ or ‘acetyl-CoA’, a significant molecule that play a crucial part in metabolism, was first detailed by him. This finding not only aided him in his further research but also established his international reputation. He also came to know that biotin, a water-soluble Vitamin B7, was an essential requirement in the process.
He also discovered that acetyl-coenzyme A is also an essential requirement in the biosynthesis of fatty acids. He further examined catabolism of fatty acids, which is the set of metabolic pathways that produce energy by burning the fatty acids in food to create water and carbon dioxide.
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In 1954 he became director of ‘Max-Planck Institute for Cellular Chemistry’ in Munich. The post was especially formed for him upon prompting of two imminent German Nobel Laureates, physiologist and medical doctor Otto Heinrich Warburg and chemist Otto Hahn.
The subject of his Nobel Lecture on December 11, 1964 was 'The pathway from "activated acetic acid" to the terpenes and fatty acids'.
He became the President of ‘Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker’ (GDCh) in 1972. It is a scholarly society and a professional body that represent interests of German chemists.
He wrote more than 300 scholarly pieces. Some of his selected publications are ‘Zur chemischen Struktur der„ aktivierten Essigsäure’ along with Ernestine Reichert (1951), ‘Enzymes of fatty acid metabolism’ along with S. Ochoa (1953) and ‘The role of biotin-dependent carboxylations in biosynthetic reactions’ (1967).
He was an honorary member of ‘Asociacion Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia’ in Caracas, ‘American Society of Biological Chemists’ in Washington and ‘Harvey Society’ in New York.
He held membership of the ‘The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities’ in Munich and the ‘Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina’ in Halle.
The ‘University of Freiburg’ conferred upon him an honorary doctorate from the faculty of medicine.
Major Works
His discoveries related to mechanics and control of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism showed the significance of cholesterol in human body and also contributed in aiding further research to find out the affect of cholesterol with regard to stroke and other heart related ailments.
Awards & Achievements
In 1964 he was jointly awarded the ‘Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine’ along with German American biochemist Konrad Bloch.
Personal Life & Legacy
He married Eva Wieland, daughter of his professor Heinrich Wieland, on May 14, 1937. The couple had five children, two sons and three daughters, who were born from 1938 to 1946 namely Peter (1938), Annemarie (1941), Susanne (1945), Heinrich (1946) and Eva-Maria (1946).
On August 6, 1979, he passed away in Munich and was buried in Lock Leutstetten, Germany.
Trivia
The ‘Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship’ was set up by ‘Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’ in his honour.

See the events in life of Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen in Chronological Order

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