Herbert Gutfreund
{{Short description|British biochemist (1921–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Herbert Gutfreund
| image = Herbert_Gutfreund.gif
| nationality = British of Austrian origin
| birth_name =
| honorific_suffix = FRS
| other_names = Freddie
| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|10|21|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Vienna, Austria
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|03|21|1921|10|21|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| spouse =
| education = Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (Ph.D. 1947)
| fields = Proteolyic enzymes, fast reaction kinetics
| workplaces = National Institute for Research in Dairying, Shinfield, Berkshire; University of Bristol
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year =
| doctoral_advisor =
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| doctoral_students =
}}Herbert Gutfreund {{postnominals|FRS}} (21 October 1921 – 21 March 2021), better known as Freddie Gutfreund, was a British biochemist of Austrian origin, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Bristol.{{cite web|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/university/distinctions/|title=Nobel Prizes and Fellowships - About the University |publisher=University of Bristol|website=Bris.ac.uk|access-date=1 November 2018}} Gutfreund died in March 2021 at the age of 99.[https://www.thetimes.com/article/births-marriages-and-deaths-march-27-2021-mslfjpsv0 Births, marriages and deaths, March 27, 2021 – Gutfreund Professor Herbert (Freddie) Gutfreund FRS]
Early life and education
Gutfreund was born on 21 October 1921 in Vienna to a middle-class professional family, the son of Clara (Pisko) and Paul Gutfreund.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEp1LT7dQMoC&q=Clara+Pisko+Gutfreund|title=The International Who's Who: 1992-93|isbn=9780946653843|year=1992}} His father was a civil engineer, and on his mother's side there were several scientists including the physicist Karl Weissenberg.Gutfreund, H. I was lucky, I was there at the right time. CMLS, Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 61, 1–3 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-003-3378-z He had all his early education in Vienna.{{cite journal|title=How I Became a Biochemist: An Honorary One!|journal=IUBMB Life|volume=59|issue=11|pages=734–737|doi=10.1080/15216540701551775|pmid=17852567|year=2007|last1=Gutfreund|first1=Herbert|s2cid=27847114|doi-access=}} However, the political turmoil of the 1930s forced him to leave Austria for England after the Anschluss of 1938. He joined an agricultural training scheme and became an accomplished dairyman. His interest in physiology was stimulated by reading Principles of General Physiology{{cite book|last1=Bayliss|first1=William Maddock|title=Principles of general physiology|date=1918|publisher=Longmans Green & Co|location=London}} by William Bayliss and he was much influenced by it. He earned his doctorate at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in 1947.
Career
After several years at the National Institute for Research in Dairying in Shinfield, Berkshire, Gutfreund spent most of his career at the University of Bristol, where he worked on proteolytic enzymes, including chymotrypsin and trypsin,{{cite journal | doi= 10.1073/pnas.42.10.719| title= The Mechanism of Chymotrypsin-Catalyzed Reactions| year= 1956| last1= Gutfreund| first1= H.| last2= Sturtevant| first2= J. M.| journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| volume= 42| issue= 10| pages= 719–728| pmid= 16589938| pmc= 528322| bibcode= 1956PNAS...42..719G| doi-access= free}} and was especially active in using methods of studying fast reactions to study enzyme mechanisms. In this connection he developed and improved apparatus for that purpose.{{cite journal
|title = Rapid-flow techniques and their contributions to enzymology
| journal = Trends in Biochemical Sciences
| year = 1999
| author = Gutfreund H
| volume = 24
| pages = 458–460
}} Although in his first book he had suggested that metabolite channelling (direct transfer of intermediates between enzymes) might occur, in his later years he became hostile to this notion, particularly in relation to glycolysis.{{cite journal
|title = Substrate channelling among glycolytic enzymes: fact or fiction
|author = Gutfreund H, Chock PB
|journal = Journal of Theoretical Biology
|year = 1991
|volume = 152
|issue = 1
|pages = 117–121
|doi = 10.1016/S0022-5193(05)80524-7
|pmid = 1753754
|bibcode = 1991JThBi.152..117G
}}
Textbooks
Gutfreund is also known for his textbooks on various aspects of enzyme catalysis:
- An Introduction to the Study of Enzymes.{{cite book
|title = An Introduction to the Study of Enzymes
|last = Gutfreund
|first = Herbert
|year = 1965
|publisher = Blackwell Scientific Publications
}}
- Enzymes: Physical Principles.{{cite book
|title = Enzymes: Physical Principles
|last = Gutfreund
|first = Herbert
|year = 1972
|publisher = Wiley-Blackwell
|ISBN = 0471337153}}
- Biochemical Evolution.{{cite book
|title= Biochemical Evolution
|editor= Gutfreund H
|publisher = Cambridge University Press
|year = 1981
|ISBN = 0521280257}}
- Biothermodynamics: The Study of Biochemical Processes at Equilibrium.{{cite book
|title= Biothermodynamics: The Study of Biochemical Processes at Equilibrium
|last1 = Edsall
|first1 = John
|last2 = Gutfreund
|first2 = Herbert
|publisher = Wiley-Blackwell
|year = 1983
|ISBN = 0471102571}} with John Edsall
{{cite book
|title= Kinetics for the Life Sciences: Receptors, Transmitters and Catalysts
|last = Gutfreund
|first = Herbert
|publisher = Cambridge University Press
|year = 1995
|ISBN = 0521480272}}
Honours
He was elected to the Royal Society in 1981.{{Cite journal |last=Trentham |first=David R. |last2=Geeves |first2=Michael A. |date=2022 |title=Herbert (Freddie) Gutfreund. 21 October 1921—21 March 2021 |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2022.0024 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=74}}{{cite web | title=Herbert Gutfreund | website=Royal Society | url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA4012&pos=1 | access-date=22 January 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite journal|url=http://www.biochemj.org/content/135/1/81|title=The kinetics of interconversion of intermediates of the reaction of pig muscle lactate dehydrogenase with oxidized nicotinamide–adenine dinucleotide and lactate|first1=Nigel G.|last1=Bennett|first2=Herbert|last2=Gutfreund|date=1 September 1973|journal=Biochemical Journal|volume=135|issue=1|pages=81–85|access-date=1 November 2018|via=www.biochemj.org|doi=10.1042/bj1350081|pmid=4359923|pmc=1165791}}
- {{cite journal | pmc=1165791 | pmid=4359923 | volume=135 | title=The kinetics of the interconversion of intermediates of the reaction of pig muscle lactate dehydrogenase with oxidized nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide and lactate | year=1973 | journal=Biochem. J. | pages=81–5 | last1 = Bennett | first1 = NG | last2 = Gutfreund | first2 = H | issue=1 | doi=10.1042/bj1350081}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.biochemistry.org/Awards/HonoraryMembers.aspx|title=Biochemical Society - Honorary Members|website=Biochemistry.org|access-date=1 November 2018}}
{{FRS 1981}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutfreund, Herbert}}
Category:Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Category:Academics of the University of Bristol