John C. Kendrew

Facts

John Cowdery Kendrew

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

John Cowdery Kendrew
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1962

Born: 24 March 1917, Oxford, United Kingdom

Died: 23 August 1997, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Affiliation at the time of the award: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Prize motivation: “for their studies of the structures of globular proteins”

Prize share: 1/2

Work

When X-rays pass through a crystalline structure, the patterns formed can be captured as photographic images, which are then used to determine the crystal's structure. During the 1930s, this method was used to map increasingly large and complex molecules. In 1957, John Kendrew became the first person to successfully determine the atomic structure of a protein. He had unlocked the structure of myoglobin, an oxygen-storing protein found in muscle cells.

To cite this section
MLA style: John C. Kendrew – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 19 Mar 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1962/kendrew/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.