Wolfram Saenger is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 biochemist

Biochemist

Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...

 and protein crystallographer

Crystallography

Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...

. In his research career spanning over 30 years he has worked at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine

Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine

The Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine is located in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded as Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research in 1947, and was renamed in 1965. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....

, 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...

 (Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

) and the Free University of Berlin

Free University of Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...

, where he still heads the Institute for Crystallography. A recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is a research prize awarded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft every year since 1985 to scientists working in Germany. This highest German research prize consists of a research grant of 2.5 million euro, to be used within seven years...

 (1987) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...

, which is the highest honour awarded for achievements in research in Germany, and the Humboldt Prize

The Humboldt Prize

The Humboldt Prize, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to internationally renowned scientists and scholars, and is currently valued at € 60,000 with the possibility of further support during the prize winner's life. Up to one...

 (1988), he is best known for his research on X-ray crystallography

X-ray crystallography

X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...

 of membrane proteins and protein-nucleic acid complexes. He has authored 10 books and over 500 scientific articles.

Partial list of major scientific contributions

1. Water Molecule in Hydrophobic Surroundings: Structure of alpha-Cyclodextrin-Hexahydrate (C6H10O5)66H2O, Nature, 1972
2. Circular hydrogen bonds, Nature, 1979
3. Specific protein-nucleic acid recognition in ribonuclease T1−2'-guanylic acid complex: an X-ray study, Nature 1982
4. DNA conformation is determined by economics in the hydration of phosphate groups, Nature 1986
5. Long-range structural changes in proteinase K triggered by calcium ion removal, Nature 1989
6. Three-dimensional structure of the E. coli DMA-binding protein FIS, Nature 1991
7. Three-dimensional structure of system I of photosynthesis at 6 Å resolution, Nature 1993
8. Crystal structure of beta-D-cellotetraose hemihydrate with implications for the structure of cellulose II, Science 1994
9. Structure of the Tet repressor-tetracycline complex and regulation of antibiotic resistance, Science 1994
10. Characterization of non-inducible Tet repressor mutants suggests conformational changes necessary for induction, Nature Structural Biology 1995
11. Photosystem I at 4 Å resolution represents the first structural model of a joint photosynthetic reaction centre and core antenna system, Nature Structural Biology 1996
12. Structural basis of gene regulation by the tetracycline inducible Tet repressor− operator system, Nature Structural Biology 2000
13. Crystal structure of photosystem II from Synechococcus elongatus at 3.8 Å resolution, Nature 2001
14. Three-dimensional structure of cyanobacterial Photosystem I at 2.5 Å resolution, Nature 2001
15. Towards complete cofactor arrangement in the 3.0 Å resolution structure of photosystem II, Nature 2005
16. Where water is oxidized to dioxygen: structure of the photosynthetic Mn4Ca cluster, Science 2006
17. Cyanobacterial photosystem II at 2.9 Å resolution and the role of quinones, lipids, channels and chloride, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 2009

External links

• Research Group of Prof. Wolfram Saenger