Cyrus Levinthal
American molecular biologist (1922–1990) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cyrus Levinthal (May 2, 1922 – November 4, 1990) was an American molecular biologist.
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) |
| Doctoral advisors | A. Carl Helmholz Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky |
| Doctoral students | Joel Sussman, Shoshana Wodak |
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.
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.
See Levinthal's paradox.
Levinthal, Cyrus (2014). "Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences" (PDF). Duardo Macagno, Barry Honig and Larry Chasin.
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