Table 1.
Nobel prizes as milestones of discoveries and technique developments relevant to protein crystallography (including X-ray, electron and neutron crystallography), and to protein structure-function relationships. Bold letters indicate prizes for the most crucial technique developments in protein crystallography. (from: http://www.nobelprize.org/)
| Year | Sub. | Nobel Laureates | Reasons for the prizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | P | Germany: Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen | Discovery of the remarkable rays (X-ray) |
| 1914 | P | Germany: Max von Laue | Discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals |
| 1915 | P |
UK: Sir William Henry Bragg
UK: William Lawrence Bragg |
Analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays |
| 1917 | P | UK: Charles Glover Barkla | Discovery of the characteristic Röntgen (X-ray) radiation of the elements |
| 1924 | P | Sweden: Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn | Discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy |
| 1926 | C | Sweden: Theodor Svedberg | Development of the analytical ultracentrifuge |
| 1937 | P | USA: Clinton Joseph Davisson UK: George Paget Thomson |
Discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals |
| 1939* | P | USA: Ernest Lawrence | Invention and development of the cyclotron |
| 1946** | C |
USA: James B. Sumner
USA: John Howard Northrop USA: Wendell Meredith Stanley |
Discovery that enzymes are proteins that can be purified and crystallized and so can viruses |
| 1954 | C | USA: Linus Carl Pauling | Research into the nature of the chemical bond |
| 1958 | C | UK: Frederick Sanger | Protein sequencing |
| 1962** | C |
UK: John Charles Kendrew
UK: Max Ferdinand Perutz |
Protein structure determination |
| 1962 | P&M |
UK: Francis Harry Compton Crick
USA: James Watson UK: Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins |
Discovery of DNA double helix |
| 1964 | C | UK: Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin | Determination of the structures of penicillin and vitamin B12 |
| 1972 | C | USA: Christian Borhmer Anfinsen USA: Stanford Moore USA: William Howard Stein |
Principles that govern the folding of protein; Principles related to the biological activity of the enzyme |
| 1976 | C | USA: William Nunn Lipscomb Jr. | Studies on the structure of boranes |
| 1980 | C |
UK: Frederick Sanger
USA: Paul Berg USA: Walter Gilbert |
Fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids; Determination of base sequences in nucleic acids |
| 1982 | C | UK: Aaron Klug | Development of crystallographic electron microscopy |
| 1985 | C | USA: Herbert Aaron Hauptman USA: Jerome Karle |
Direct methods for the determination of crystal structures |
| 1986 | P |
Germany: Ernst Ruska
Germany: Gerd Binnig Switzerland: Heinrich Rohrer |
Design of the first electron microscope; design of the scanning tunneling microscope |
| 1988 | C |
Germany: Johann Deisenhofer
Germany: Robert Huber Germany: Hartmut Michel |
Determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre |
| 1992 | P | Switzerland: Georges Charpak | Invention and development of the multiwire proportional chamber detectors. |
| 1993*** | C |
Canada: Michael Smith
USA: Kary Banks Mullis |
Site-directed mutagenesis: polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method |
| 1994 | P |
Canada: Bertram Neville Brockhouse
USA: Clifford Glenwood Shull |
Development of neutron spectroscopy and the neutron diffraction technique |
| 1997 | C | USA: Paul Delos Boyer UK: John Ernest Walker Denmark: Jens Christian Skou |
Enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) |
| 2003 | C | USA: Peter Agre USA: Roderick MacKinnon |
Structural and mechanistic studies of water and ion channels |
| 2006 | C | USA: Roger David Kornberg | Studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription |
| 2009 | P | USA: Willard S. Boyle; George E. Smith | Invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor |
| 2009 | C | USA: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Israel: Ada Yonath, USA: Thomas Arthur Steitz |
Studies of the structure and function of the ribosome |
| 2011 | C | Israel Dan Shechtman | Discovery of quasicrystals |
| 2012 | C | USA: Robert J. Lefkowitz; Brian K. Kobilka | Studies of G-protein-coupled receptors |
| 2013 | C |
USA Martin Karplus
USA Michael Levitt USA Ariel Warshel |
Development of multi-scale models for complex chemical systems |
Sub. Indicates the category of the prize (P, Physics; C, Chemistry; P&M, Physiology and Medicine)
Synchrotron radiation (SR) is one of the most important techniques responsible for the rapid development of protein crystallography; the modern SR has been built on synchrotron instrument (similar to the type invented by Ernest Lawrence, although with different purposes). For recent reviews on SR instrumentation, see [7, 8].
The most important prize was to recognize Max Perutz and John Kendrew's original and fundamental work to establish the protein crystallographic method. The heroic work of more than 25 years consistent and persistent efforts of Max Perutz led to the final determination of hemoglobin and other protein crystal structures [9, 10, 11].
Molecular biology techniques (DNA sequencing and manipulation) such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and mutagenesis were crucial developments for biology including structural biology. Another key technique responsible for rapid development of protein crystallography is recombinant DNA technology and expression of extrinsic proteins in bacterial hosts as invented by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer [12, 13, 14].