Cyrus Levinthal
Cyrus Levinthal | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 2, 1922 |
| Died | November 4, 1990 (aged 68) |
| Known for | Levinthal's paradox |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular biology |
| Institutions | University of Michigan MIT Columbia University |
| Thesis | A Study of Protons Ejected from Nuclei by High Energy Gamma Rays (1950) |
| A. Carl Helmholz Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky | |
Doctoral students | Joel Sussman, Shoshana Wodak |
Cyrus Levinthal (May 2, 1922 – November 4, 1990) was an American molecular biologist. He is best known for the eponymous thought experiment Levinthal's paradox, which concerns the folding of protein structure.
Biography
[edit]Levinthal graduated with a Ph.D. in physics from University of California, Berkeley and taught physics at the University of Michigan for seven years before moving to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1957. In 1968 he joined Columbia University as the Chairman and from 1969, professor of the newly established Department of Biological Sciences, where he remained until his death from lung cancer in 1990. In 1970, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[1]
Research
[edit]While at MIT Levinthal made significant discoveries in molecular genetics relating to the mechanisms of DNA replication, the relationship between genes and proteins, and the nature of messenger RNA.
At Columbia Levinthal applied computers to the 3-dimensional imaging of biological structures such as proteins. He is considered the father of computer graphical display of protein structure.
Discoveries and accomplishments
[edit]See Levinthal's paradox.
References
[edit]- ↑ "NAS member page for Cyrus Levinthal". National Academy of Sciences Member Directory. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
Levinthal, Cyrus (2014). "Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences" (PDF). Duardo Macagno, Barry Honig and Larry Chasin.
External links
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- 1922 births
- 1990 deaths
- American molecular biologists
- American geneticists
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- University of Michigan faculty
- American computational chemists
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
- Columbia University faculty
- Members of the National Academy of Medicine
- 20th-century American chemists
- American biologist stubs