biology

Günter Blobel

Günter Blobel is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Günter Blobel rather than just read about it. In short: Günter Blobel (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʏntɐ ˈbloːbl̩] ; May 21, 1936 – February 18, 2018) was a Silesian German and American biologist and 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell. Education and early life Günter Blobel was born in Waltersdorf in the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia, then located in east…

Key takeaways

Günter Blobel belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
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Reproduce the core statement of Günter Blobel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Günter Blobel (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʏntɐ ˈbloːbl̩] ; May 21, 1936 – February 18, 2018) was a Silesian German and American biologist and 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell.

Education and early life Günter Blobel was born in Waltersdorf in the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia, then located in eastern Germany. In January 1945 his family fled from native Silesia to Dresden to escape from the advancing Red Army. During the bombing of Dresden, Blobel, then 8, stayed with his family at a relative's farm to the west of the city. After the war, Blobel grew up and attended gymnasium in the Saxon town of Freiberg. He studied medicine and graduated from the University of Tübingen in 1960. After two years service in a medical internship, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, following an older brother, enrolling in the University of Wisconsin–Madison and, joining the lab of Van R. Potter for his graduate work. Blobel matriculated in 1967 with a Ph.D. He then moved to Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow with George Palade, and was soon appointed as a professor.

Career and research Blobel was appointed to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1986. Blobel was the sole recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of signal peptides. Signal peptides form an integral part of protein targeting, a mechanism for cells to direct newly synthesized protein molecules to their proper location by means of an "address tag" (i.e., a signal peptide) within the molecule. Blobel died of cancer in Manhattan at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center on February 18, 2018 at the age of 81. By the time of his death, Blobel was described as having "ushered cell biology into the molecular age" through his work on the fractionation and reconstitution of functional protein complexes and sub-cellular components in vitro.

Philanthropy Blobel became well known for his direct and active support for the rebuilding of Dresden in Germany, becoming, in 1994, the founder and president of the nonprofit "Friends of Dresden, Inc." He donated all of the Nobel award money to the restoration of Dresden, in particular for the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche (completed in 2005) and the building of a new synagogue. In Leipzig he pursued a rebuilding of the Paulinerkirche, the university church of the University of Leipzig, which had been blown up by the communist regime of East Germany in 1968, arguing "this is a shrine of German cultural history, connected to the most important names in German cultural history." Gunter was also a founding member of the board of directors of Research Foundation to Cure AIDS, a U.S. not-for-profit research organization.

Personal life Blobel lost his older sister to aerial bombing of a train she was on in 1945, shortly after the bombing of Dresden, while an older brother survived the war and became a veterinarian in the United States. Blobel worked at the Rockefeller University in New York City from 1968. He lived in Manhattan's Upper East Side with his wife, Laura Maioglio (owner of Barbetta). He was on the board of directors for Nestlé and the Board of Scientific Governors at The Scripps Research Institute. Furthermore, he was Co-Founder and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for Chromocell Corporation. He sat on the Selection Committee for Life Science and Medicine which chooses winners of the Shaw Prize. Blobel had a passion for opera and architecture, in addition to his passion for experimental science.

Scientific awards 1978: NAS Award in Molecular Biology 1982: Gairdner Foundation International Award 1983: Otto Warburg Medal 1983: Richard Lounsbery Award 1983: Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences 1984: Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1986: V. D. Mattia Award 1986: E.B. Wilson Medal 1986: Keith R. Porter Lecture 1987: Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University 1989: Waterford Bio-Medical Science Award 1989: Member of the American Philosophical Society 1992: Max Delbrück Medal 1993: Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research 1995: Ciba Drew Award in Biomedical Research 1996: King Faisal International Prize 1997: Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science and Technology 1999: Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California 1999: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001: Pontifical Academy of Sciences 2001: Pour le Mérite 2006: Inaugural class of winner of the Great Immigrants Award named by Carnegie Corporation of New York 2008: Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Science 2014: AACR Academy

See also Distinguished German-American of the Year

References

External links Blobel's page at Rockefeller University Günter Blobel on Nobelprize.org Freeview video 'An Interview with Günter Blobel' by the Vega Science Trust Official site of the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize Information about Blobel as Distinguished German-American of the Year 2005 (German-American Heritage Foundation)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Günter Blobel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Günter Blobel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Günter Blobel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Günter Blobel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Günter Blobel

In research: Günter Blobel appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Günter Blobel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Günter Blobel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 2018 deaths, 20th-century American biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Günter Blobel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Günter Blobel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Günter Blobel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Günter Blobel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Günter Blobel in simple terms?

Why does Günter Blobel matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Günter Blobel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Günter Blobel.