description John Howard Northrop Overview
John Howard Northrop (1891–1987) was an American biochemist at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. He isolated and crystallized the digestive enzymes pepsin in 1930 and trypsin in 1932, demonstrating that these crystalline proteins retained enzymatic activity. His work, alongside that of James B. Sumner and Wendell Meredith Stanley, established that enzymes are proteins.
Northrop shared the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sumner and Stanley.
insights Ranking position
John Howard Northrop ranks #180 of 203 in the Chemist ranking, behind Vladimir Markovnikov, ahead of Nicholas J. Turro.
help John Howard Northrop FAQ
What digestive enzymes did John Howard Northrop isolate and crystallize?
John Howard Northrop successfully isolated and crystallized the digestive enzymes pepsin in 1930 and trypsin in 1932. By crystallizing these enzymes, he demonstrated that they were pure proteins capable of catalyzing biological reactions.
Where did John Howard Northrop conduct his biochemical research?
Northrop spent his prestigious career working at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. His laboratory there was at the forefront of mid-20th-century biochemistry and enzyme research.
Did John Howard Northrop receive a Nobel Prize for his work with enzymes?
Yes, John Howard Northrop was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946. He shared the prize with James B. Sumner and Wendell Meredith Stanley for their collective breakthroughs in isolating and crystallizing enzymes and viruses.
What was the broader significance of Northrop's work on crystalline enzymes?
By proving that pepsin and trypsin were crystalline proteins, Northrop confirmed that enzymes possess distinct, ordered molecular structures. This validated the growing consensus that biological catalysis is driven by complex protein molecules.
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