Robert Huber (; born 20 February 1937) is a German

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

.Robert Huber autobiographical information at www.nobel.org
/ref> known for his work crystallizing an intra

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 ...

important in

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

and subsequently applying X-ray crystallography to elucidate the protein's structure.

Education and early life

He was born on 20 February 1937 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where his father, Sebastian, was a bank cashier. He was educated at the Humanistisches Karls-Gymnasium from 1947 to 1956 and then studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

, receiving his diploma in 1960. He stayed, and did research into using

crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...

to elucidate the structure of

organic compounds Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...

Career

In 1971 he became a director at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry where his team developed methods for the crystallography of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s. In 1988 he received the

Nobel Prize for Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

jointly with Johann Deisenhofer and

Hartmut Michel 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 ...

. The trio were recognized for their work in first crystallizing an intramembrane protein important in photosynthesis in purple bacteria, and subsequently applying X-ray crystallography to elucidate the protein's structure. The information provided the first insight into the structural bodies that performed the integral function of photosynthesis. This insight could be translated to understand the more complex analogue of photosynthesis in

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...

which is essentially the same as that in

chloroplasts A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...

of higher plants. In 2006, he took up a post at the

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

to spearhead the development of Structural Biology at the university on a part-time basis. Since 2005 he has been doing research at the ''Center for medical biotechnology'' of the

University of Duisburg-Essen The University of Duisburg-Essen () is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded 194th place in the world. It was originally ...

. Huber was one of the original editors of the Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry.

Awards and honours

In 1977 Huber was awarded the Otto Warburg Medal. In 1988 he was awarded the Nobel Prize and in 1992 the

Sir Hans Krebs Medal The Sir Hans Krebs Lecture and Medal is awarded annually by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) for outstanding achievements in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology or related sciences. It was endowed by the Lord Rank Centre fo ...

. Huber was elected a member of Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts, in 1993 and Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1999. His certificate of election reads:

Personal life

Huber is married and has four children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Robert 1937 births Living people Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences German biochemists Scientists from Munich Nobel laureates in Chemistry Foreign members of the Royal Society Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) German Nobel laureates Studienstiftung alumni Technical University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich Academics of Cardiff University Max Planck Society people Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Researchers of photosynthesis Max Planck Institute directors