Hans Fischer
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Hans Fischer
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1930
Born: 27 July 1881, Hoechst, Germany
Died: 31 March 1945, Munich, Germany
Affiliation at the time of the award: Technische Hochschule (Institute of Technology), Munich, Germany
Prize motivation: “for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis of haemin”
Prize share: 1/1
Work
A supply of oxygen is a prerequisite for metabolism in our bodies’ cells. Oxygen is transported by the blood, and in particular by hemoglobin, a substance that gives blood its red color. Hemoglobin is composed of the protein globin and what is called the hem group. Hans Fischer mapped the composition of the hem group and in 1929 succeeded in producing the substance by artificial means. He also studied other pigmented substances of biological importance, including chlorophyll, which plays a crucial role in plant photosynthesis.
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