Kurt Wüthrich:
Kurt Wüthrich was a Swiss biochemist, physicist and Nobel laureate.
Birth:
October 4, 1938 in Aaberg, Switzerland
Claim to Fame:
Wüthrich is a Swiss biochemist and physicist who was a awarded half the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to determine the three dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution. NMR spectroscopy was initially used on small molecules. The sample would be set in a strong magnetic field and radio frequency waves would bombard the sample.
When the radio waves hit the sample's hydrogen atom nuclei, a secondary radio wave would be emitted. When these frequencies were analyzed, the three dimensional structure could be determined. Wüthrich adapted this technique so it could analyze much larger and more complex biological molecules.
