American biochemist and educator who in 1984 received the Nobel Prize
for Chemistry for his development of a simple and ingenious method for
synthesizing chains of amino acids, or polypeptides, in any predetermined
His innovative method, developed during the 1950s and '60s, grew from
his idea that the key to the synthesis of polypeptides was the anchoring
of the first amino acid to an insoluble solid. Other amino acids could
then be joined, one by one, to the fixed terminus. At the end of the
sequence of steps, the completed chain could be easily detached from
the solid. The process, which can be carried out by machine, proved
highly efficient and of great significance for research on such substances
as hormones and enzymes, as well as in the commercial manufacture of
such drugs as insulin and such substances as interferon.
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