William Howard Stein

William Howard Stein ( born June 25, 1911 in New York City; † February 2, 1980 ) was an American biochemist. He received the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the chemical structure and catalytic activity of the active center of the ribonuclease molecule.

Biography

William H. Stein studied from 1927 to 1929 at the Philips Exceter Academy and then went to Harvard University and Columbia University, where he received his doctorate in 1938. Subsequently, he was first employee and later a professor at the Rockefeller Institute in New York.

Work

William H. Stein and Stanford Moore succeeded with ribonuclease for the first time, completely elucidate the primary structure of an enzyme molecule, they used a developed of them amino acid analyzer. This device made ​​it possible to resolve proteins that are composed of a larger number of individual amino acids. The way to understanding this enzyme was facilitated by the elucidation of the structure and laid the foundation for the study of other enzymes.