Konrad E. Bloch
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
The interview begins with Konrad E. Bloch describing his childhood in Neisse, Germany, and his undergraduate education at Technische Hochschule in Munich. During a research assistantship in Davos, Switzerland, Bloch had his first encounter with the cholesterol molecule. He also produced and published three papers that Columbia University later accepted as partial fulfillment for a PhD in biochemistry, which he earned in 1938. Bloch describes his teaching and research in biochemistry at Columbia and later at the University of Chicago, where he developed an interest in the mechanism of protein synthesis from amino acids. Throughout his career, Bloch's primary research interest was the biosynthesis of cholesterol. In 1954, he became Higgins Professor of Biochemistry at Harvard University and served as Chemistry Department Chairman for three years. He won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology with Feodor Lynen in 1964 for his work on cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism. Shortly before his retirement, he was appointed Professor of Science at the Harvard School of Public Health. Bloch closes the interview with some comments on nutrition research, blondes in Venetian Renaissance Art, the difference between biochemistry, molecular biology, and the Human Genome Project.
Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Technical University of Munich | Chemical Engineering | |
| 1938 | Columbia University | PhD | Biochemistry |
Professional Experience
Schweizerisches Höhenforschung Institute
Columbia University
University of Chicago
Harvard University
University of Oxford
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Guggenheim Fellow, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich, Switzerland |
| 1956 | Member, National Academy of Sciences |
| 1958 | Medal, Société de Chemie Biologique |
| 1961 | Guggenheim Fellow, Imperial College, London, England |
| 1964 | Fritzsche Award, American Chemical Society |
| 1964 | Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology |
| 1964 | Distinguished Service Award, University of Chicago School of Medicine |
| 1965 | Centennial Science Award, University of Notre Dame |
| 1965 | Cardano Medal, Lombardy Academy of Sciences |
| 1966 | Honorary Member, Lombardy Academy of Sciences |
| 1966 | Honorary Degree, University of Uruguay |
| 1966 | Honorary Degree, University of Brazil |
| 1966 | Honorary Degree, University of Nancy |
| 1966 | Member, American Philosophical Society |
| 1967 | Honorary Degree, Columbia University |
| 1968 | William Lloyd Evans Award, Ohio State University |
| 1968 | Honorary Degree, Technische Hochschule, Muenchen |
| 1968 | Guggenheim Fellow, Harvard University |
| 1970 | Honorary Degree, Brandeis University |
| 1971 | Honorary Member, Phi Lambda Upsilon |
| 1976 | Honorary Member, Japanese Biochemical Society |
| 1976 | Corresponding Member, Bavarian Academy of Sciences |
| 1976 | Honorary Degree, Hokkaido University |
| 1977 | Foreign Member, Accademia Pattaviana |
| 1985 | Foreign Member, Royal Society, London |
| 1987 | Award for Excellence, Columbia University |
| 1988 | National Medal of Science |
Table of Contents
Family background. Effects of World War I on family. Secondary school at Realgymnasium. Bar Mitzvah.
Reason for selecting Technische Hochschule. Speakers at Munich Chemical Society and decision to study organic chemistry. Art classes at the university.
Influence of Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Lecture by Kögl. Rejection for graduate study by Kögl and Butenandt. Reasons for wanting to go to United States. Wife's family background and career. First research project isolating phosphatidic acid. First awareness of cholesterol molecule. Rudolf Schoenheimer. How lipids become major interest.
Acceptance of three publications for PhD degree. Crystallization of N-methylcysteine monohydrochloride. Brief employment at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Nitrogen-15 research. Introduction to biochemistry. Initial interest in biosynthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids.
Reasons for moving from New York. Development of interest in mechanism of protein synthesis from amino acids. Discovery of acyl-CoA. Competion with Lynen, work leading to Nobel Prize.
Change in teaching style. Reasons for leaving Chicago. Channon paper on squalene. Shark hunting and research in Bermuda. Research with Leopole Ruzicka at ETH Zürich. Reaction to Nobel Prize. Refusal of offer to become first biochemistry professor at ETH. Chairmanship of Chemistry Department. Appointment at School of Public Health.
Nutrition. Role of oxygen in metabolism and evolution. "Aqua blonde" phenomenon in Venetian painting. Views of difference between biochemistry and molecular biology and The Human Genome Project.
About the Interviewer
James J. Bohning was professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he had been a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was CHF’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. Bohning passed away in September 2011.