Konrad Beyreuther

Konrad Beyreuther
Born (1941-05-14) 14 May 1941 (age 83)
Leutersdorf, Germany
NationalityGerman
EducationMax Planck Institute for Biochemistry (Dr.rer.nat. 1968)
Known forneurodegenerative diseases
AwardsFeldberg Award (1989)
Metlife Foundation Award (1990)
Potamkin Prize (1990)
King Faisal International Prize in Medicine (1997)
Scientific career
Fieldsmolecular biology
InstitutionsHeidelberg University
Cologne University
Doctoral advisorAdolf Butenandt

Konrad Beyreuther (born 14 May 1941) is a German molecular biologist and chemist known for his work on neurodegenerative diseases.

Life

Konrad Bayreuther was the son of an evangelical pastor. He studied chemistry at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich. He wrote his PhD Thesis at the Max-Planck Institut für Biochemie in Munich. Until 1978 he was a scientific employee at the Institut for genetics at the university of Cologne.

Until 1987 he was a professor at the university of Cologne. From 1987 onwards he has held various positions at the University of Heidelberg.

Works

Beyreuther's work with Colin L. Masters implicated amyloid precursor protein (APP) as a possible precursor of Alzheimer's disease.[1] Together with British researchers, he discovered the pathogenic prion that causes BSE, also known as mad cow disease, in 1998.[2]

Awards

Bayreuther received the Robert Pfleger Research Award [de] in 1988 and the Feldberg Award in 1989. In 1990, he won the Metlife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease[3] with Robert D. Terry and was awarded the Potamkin Prize jointly with Masters.[4] Beyreuther and Masters both received Max Planck Research Awards [de] in 1991,[5] and shared the Zülch Prize [de] in 1995.[6] In 1997 they were awarded the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine together with James F. Gusella for contributions to the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.[7] Bayreuther has been elected to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Heidelberg Academy for Sciences and Humanities, and the Göttingen Academy of Sciences. He is a recipient of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg and the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

References

  1. ^ Masters CL, Simms G, Weinman NA, Multhaup G, McDonald BL, Beyreuther K (1985). "Amyloid plaque core protein in Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 82 (12): 4245–9. Bibcode:1985PNAS...82.4245M. doi:10.1073/pnas.82.12.4245. PMC 397973. PMID 3159021.
  2. ^ Hope, James; Reekie, Laura J. D.; Hunter, Nora; Multhaup, Gerd; Beyreuther, Konrad; White, Heather; Scott, Anthony C.; Stack, Michael J.; Dawson, Michael; Wells, Gerald A. H. (1988). "Fibrils from brains of cows with new cattle disease contain scrapie-associated protein". Nature. 336 (6197). Springer Nature: 390–392. Bibcode:1988Natur.336..390H. doi:10.1038/336390a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 2904126. S2CID 4351199.
  3. ^ "Winners". MetLife Foundation Awards in Medical Research. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Awards History". American Academy of Neurology. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Max-Planck-Forschungspreis" [Max Planck Research Award]. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (in German). Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Zülch Prize". Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Professor Konrad Beyreuther". King Faisal Prize. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
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