Alan Fersht
Encyclopedia
Sir Alan Roy Fersht FRS (born 21 April 1943) is a British
chemist
at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. He is distinguished for his pioneering work on protein folding
.
near London
and at the University of Cambridge
, where he was awarded his PhD
degree in 1968.
He was Wolfson Research Professor of the Royal Society
and Professor of Biological Chemistry at Imperial College London
from 1978 to 1988 and was Herchel Smith
Professor of Organic Chemistry
at Cambridge from 1988 to 2010. He was the Director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Engineering (UK) from 1990 to 2010.
He is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
, and also of Imperial College.
Alan Fersht is widely regarded as one of the main pioneers of protein engineering
, which he developed as a primary method for analysis of the structure, activity and folding of proteins. He has developed methods for the high resolution of protein folding
in the sub-millisecond time-scale and has pioneered the method of phi value analysis
for studying the folding transition states of proteins. His interests also include protein misfolding
, disease
and cancer
.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983, by whom he was awarded the Gabor Medal
in 1991 for molecular biology, in 1998 the Davy Medal
for chemistry and in 2008 the Royal Medal
. He is a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences
, a Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society
, an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
.
He has honorary doctorates from: Uppsala University
; Free University of Brussels
; Weizmann Institute of Science
; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
; and University of Aarhus
.
He has received many prizes and medals including: the FEBS Anniversary Prize; Novo Biotechnology Award; Charmian Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry
; Max Tishler
Lecture and Prize Harvard University
; Datta Lecture and Medal FEBS; Jubilee Lecture and the Harden Medal of the Biochemical Society
; Feldberg Foundation Prize, Distinguished Service Award, Miami Nature
Biotechnology Winter Symposium; Christian B. Anfinsen
Award of the Protein Society; Natural Products Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry
, Stein and Moore Award of the Protein Society; Bader Award of the American Chemical Society
; Kaj Ulrik Linderstrøm-Lang Prize and Medal; Johannes Martin Bijvoet
Medal Utrecht University
; and the Gilbert N. Lewis
Medal University of California, Berkeley
.
In 2003 he was knight
ed for his pioneering work on protein science.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. He is distinguished for his pioneering work on protein folding
Protein folding
Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation. It is the physical process by which a polypeptide folds into its characteristic and functional three-dimensional structure from random coil....
.
Biography
Alan Fersht was educated at Sir George Monoux Grammar School in WalthamstowWalthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
near London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he was awarded his PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree in 1968.
He was Wolfson Research Professor of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and Professor of Biological Chemistry at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
from 1978 to 1988 and was Herchel Smith
Herchel Smith
Herchel Smith was an Anglo-American organic chemist. His discoveries include the key inventions underlying oral and injectable contraceptives. In later life, he was a major benefactor to university science....
Professor of Organic Chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
at Cambridge from 1988 to 2010. He was the Director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Engineering (UK) from 1990 to 2010.
He is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
, and also of Imperial College.
Alan Fersht is widely regarded as one of the main pioneers of protein engineering
Protein engineering
Protein engineering is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins. It is a young discipline, with much research taking place into the understanding of protein folding and recognition for protein design principles....
, which he developed as a primary method for analysis of the structure, activity and folding of proteins. He has developed methods for the high resolution of protein folding
Protein folding
Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation. It is the physical process by which a polypeptide folds into its characteristic and functional three-dimensional structure from random coil....
in the sub-millisecond time-scale and has pioneered the method of phi value analysis
Phi value analysis
Phi value analysis is an experimental protein engineering method used to study the structure of the folding transition state in small protein domains that fold in a two-state manner. Since the folding transition state is by definition a transient and partially unstructured state, its structure is...
for studying the folding transition states of proteins. His interests also include protein misfolding
Protein folding
Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation. It is the physical process by which a polypeptide folds into its characteristic and functional three-dimensional structure from random coil....
, disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983, by whom he was awarded the Gabor Medal
Gabor Medal
The Gabor Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of London for "acknowledged distinction of interdisciplinary work between the life sciences with other disciplines". The medal was created in 1989 to honour the memory of Dennis Gabor, and is awarded biennially...
in 1991 for molecular biology, in 1998 the Davy Medal
Davy Medal
The Davy Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry". Named after Humphry Davy, the medal is awarded with a gift of £1000. The medal was first awarded in 1877 to Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff "for...
for chemistry and in 2008 the Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
. He is a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, a Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
, an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is the United Kingdom's national academy of medical sciences. It was established in 1998 on the recommendation of a group that was chaired by Michael Atiyah. Its president is John Irving Bell....
.
He has honorary doctorates from: Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
; Free University of Brussels
Free University of Brussels
The Free University of Brussels was a university in Brussels, Belgium. In 1969, it split into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel....
; Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....
; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
; and University of Aarhus
University of Aarhus
Aarhus University , located in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, is Denmark's second oldest and second largest university...
.
He has received many prizes and medals including: the FEBS Anniversary Prize; Novo Biotechnology Award; Charmian Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
; Max Tishler
Max Tishler
Max Tishler was a scientist at Merck & Co. who led the research teams that synthesized ascorbic acid, riboflavin, cortisone, miamin, pyridoxin, pantothenic acid, nicotinamide, methionine, threonine, and tryptophan...
Lecture and Prize Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
; Datta Lecture and Medal FEBS; Jubilee Lecture and the Harden Medal of the Biochemical Society
Biochemical Society
The Biochemical Society is a learned society in the United Kingdom in the field of biochemistry, including all the cellular and molecular biosciences.-Structure:...
; Feldberg Foundation Prize, Distinguished Service Award, Miami Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
Biotechnology Winter Symposium; Christian B. Anfinsen
Christian B. Anfinsen
Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, Jr. was an American biochemist. He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Stanford Moore and William Howard Stein for work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation...
Award of the Protein Society; Natural Products Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
, Stein and Moore Award of the Protein Society; Bader Award of the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
; Kaj Ulrik Linderstrøm-Lang Prize and Medal; Johannes Martin Bijvoet
Johannes Martin Bijvoet
Johannes Martin Bijvoet was a Dutch chemist and crystallographer at the van 't Hoff Laboratory at the University of Utrecht...
Medal Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
; and the Gilbert N. Lewis
Gilbert N. Lewis
Gilbert Newton Lewis was an American physical chemist known for the discovery of the covalent bond , his purification of heavy water, his reformulation of chemical thermodynamics in a mathematically rigorous manner accessible to ordinary chemists, his theory of Lewis acids and...
Medal University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
In 2003 he was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed for his pioneering work on protein science.