German biochemist who, for his research on the metabolism of cholesterol and
fatty acids, was a corecipient (with Konrad Bloch) of the 1964 Nobel Prize for
Physiology or Medicine.
Lynen was trained at the University of Munich. After several years as a lecturer
in the chemistry department there (1942-47), he became a professor. While at
Munich he worked on the intermediary metabolism of the living cell. This
research led to his demonstration in the early 1950s that the acetylation of
coenzyme A is the key first step in a chain of reactions that result in the
formation of cholesterol and fatty acids. In 1954 Lynen became director of the
Max Planck Institute for Cell Chemistry in Munich.
Lynen was highly regarded in the scientific community. His work on the
biosynthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids was cited by the Nobel Prize
committee as a contribution to pure chemistry and to the search for a remedy for
heart disease caused by cholesterol.
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Jerry Jacob