This is a list of notable people known for their research in biophysics.
A Gary Ackers (American, 1939–2011) — thermodynamics of protein assembly into complexes, protein-DNA interactions and enzyme subunit interactions David A. Agard, Protein chemist at the University of California, San Francisco. Christian B. Anfinsen (American, 1916–1995) — author of the postulate about spontaneous protein folding, for which he received a Nobel Prize
B
David Baker (American, 1962–) — Protein structure prediction; protein design; Rosetta software Adriaan (Ad) Bax (Dutch-born American, 1956–) — development of methodology for NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy Georg von Békésy (Hungarian, 1899–1972) — research on the human ear Boris Pavlovich Belousov (Soviet, 1893–1970) — known for discovery of Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction Howard Berg (American, 1934–2021) — characterized properties of bacterial chemotaxis Helen M. Berman (American, 1943–) — pioneer in study of nucleic acid structure; head of the worldwide Protein Data Bank John Desmond Bernal (Irish-born English, 1901–1971) — X-ray crystallography of plant viruses and proteins Pamela J. Bjorkman (American, 1956–) — first X-ray crystallography of human histocompatibility complex; studies immune recognition, homologs of MHC proteins, and improved antibodies against HIV Steven Block (American, 1952–) — observed the motions of enzymes such as kinesin and RNA polymerase with optical tweezers Tom Blundell (British, 1942–) — crystal structures of HIV protease, renin, insulin and other hormones, growth factors, receptors, and proteins important in cell signalling and DNA repair; developed structure-guided and fragment-based approaches to drug design Jagadish Chandra Bose (Indian, 1858–1937). Known for research on microwaves and plant growth Detlev Wulf Bronk (American, 1897–1975). Administrator known also for research on nerve conduction. Axel Brunger (German American, 1956–) — developed the free R cross-validation index and the X-PLOR/CNS software for macromolecular crystallography Carlos Bustamante (Peruvian-born American, 1951–) — known for single-molecule biophysics of molecular motors and biological polymer physics
C
Charles Cantor (1942–) — Director, Center for Advanced Biotechnology, Boston University. Cantor is a molecular geneticist who developed pulse field electrophoresis for very large DNA molecules with David C. Schwartz in 1984, by adding an alternating voltage gradient to standard gel electrophoresis. Carlos Chagas Filho (Brazilian, 1910–2000) Neuroscientist Donald Caspar (American, 1927–2021) — theory of quasi-equivalence in icosahedral viruses Alexander Chizhevsky (Soviet, 1897–1964) — founder of heliobiology Wah Chiu (Hong Kong-born American, 1947–) — cryo electron microscopy; virus structure; high-resolution cryoEM Steven Chu (American, 1948–) — Nobel laureate who helped develop optical trapping techniques used by many biophysicists G. Marius Clore FRS (British and American) — pioneer of multidimensional macromolecular NMR spectroscopy laying foundations of 3D structure determination of proteins in solution, and discovery of rare, invisible conformational states of macromolecules Carolyn Cohen (American, 1929–2017} — in 1969, Cohen codiscovered the molecular structure of tropomyosin as a polar coiled coil, also being the first protein crystal structure determined with a 20Å resolution via x-ray crystallography. On the route to this discovery, she also discovered a novel crystal structure, termed the Cohen-Longley paracrystal with 400Å periodicity, in 1966. Robert Corey (American, 1897–1971) — co-discoverer (with Linus Pauling) of the α helix and β sheet structures in proteins Allan McLeod Cormack — development (with Godfrey Hounsfield) of computer assisted tomography Christoph Cremer — overcoming the conventional limit of resolution that applies to light based investigations (the Abbe limit) by a range of different methods like SPDM and SMI Francis Crick — co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. Later participated in the Crick, Brenner et al. experiment which established the basis for understanding the genetic code.
D Johann Deisenhofer (German and American, 1943–) — solved first three-dimensional structure of membrane protein Max Delbrück (German, American, 1906–1981) — discovered that bacteria become resistant to phages as a result of genetic mutations. Delbrück, Salvador Luria, and Alfred Hershey shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses" Emilio Del Giudice (Italian, 1940–2014) — water research Friedrich Dessauer (German, 1881–1963) — research on radiation, especially X-rays Ken A. Dill (American, 1947–) — research on folding pathways of proteins. Christopher Dobson (British, 1949–2019) — protein folding and misfolding Jennifer Doudna (American, 1964–) — structures of large RNAs; pioneer in CRISPR research Leslie Dutton (British and American) — Oxidoreductase function and design.
E Richard H. Ebright (American, 1959–) — single-molecule enzymology; structure and function of RNA polymerases Gerald M. Edelman (American, 1929–2014) — Nobel laureate, structure of antibodies David Eisenberg (American, 1939–) Biochemist and biophysicist working on structural biology and computational molecular biology Donald Engelman (American, 1941–) Biophysics working on biological membranes Richard R. Ernst (Swiss, 1933–2021) — developer of two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
F George Feher (American, 1924–2017) — photosynthesis mechanisms for plants and bacteria Julio M. Fernandez (Chilean) – interplay between mechanics and biology Alan Fersht (British, 1943–) — pioneered work on protein folding Adolf Eugen Fick (German, 1828–1901) — responsible for Fick's law of diffusion and a method to determine cardiac output Joachim Frank (German and American, 1940–) — pioneered single-particle reconstruction in electron microscopy; studied structure and dynamics of ribosomes. Rosalind Franklin (British, 1920–1958) — pioneer of DNA crystallography and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA Clara Franzini-Armstrong (Italian and American, 1938–) Electron microscopy of muscles Hans Frauenfelder (American, 1922–2022) — pioneering work on experiment and theory to understand dynamic behavior in protein structure
G
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