Henrik Kacser 1727460 224307635 2008-07-08T07:28:02Z Rjwilmsi 203434 gen + birth/death date fixes per [[Wikipedia:DATE#Dates_of_birth_and_death|MOS]] using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{Orphan|date=September 2006}} {{Merge|Henrick Kacser|date=June 2008}} __NOTOC__ '''Henrik Kacser''' ([[22 September]] [[1918]] – [[13 March]] [[1995]]) was an influential [[biochemist]] and [[geneticist]]. ==Early life== Kacser was born in [[Romania]] in [[1918]]. He went to school in [[Berlin]] and did his undergraduate and postgraduate work at the [[Queen's University of Belfast]]. There he studied [[chemistry]] with a particular interest in [[physical chemistry]]. He went to Edinburgh in [[1952]] as a Nuttfield Fellow under a scheme to introduce physical scientists into [[biology]]. This was to become the start of his work as a geneticist/biochemist. In [[1955]] he became appointed lecturer in the department of Genetics at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. ==Areas of research== In most of his research his original training physical chemistry is quite evident as he focused mainly on the physical/chemical aspects of biology. Much of his early work includes work on practical chemistry, [[enzyme kinetics|kinetics of enzyme reactions]] and very little on [[genetics]]. His work falls into four distinct categories: 1. building a foundation in physical chemistry; 2. development of metabolic control analysis; 3. consolidation and 4. expansion. Only in the third phase of his career his expertise in genetics came to light when he set out to find experimental models to demonstrate the correctness of his paper on [[metabolic control]]. ==Influential publications== Kacsers most important work was published in [[1973]]. Written with [[J.A. Burns]] it was called the “Control of Flux” paper. By the mid 1980's the central ideas of metabolic control analysis laid out in this paper were becoming far more widely accepted. Further experimental methods based on the theories laid out in the paper were used to help in the understanding of metabolic regulation and [[molecular evolution]], and to show how metabolic control analysis could be applied to problems in [[medicine]] and [[biotechnology]]. Another paper published in 1984 showed how the idea of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]] could be applied in a constructive way to provide models for the evolution of [[enzyme catalysis]]. ==Later life== Upon retirement from lecturing in [[1988]] he became a Fellow of the University of Edinburgh. Kacser was an active geneticist/biochemist right up until his death. He ran a research lab in which he was still working in days before he died. He was elected to the Fellowship of [[The Royal Society of Edinburgh]] in [[1990]] and in [[1993]] he received an honorary doctorate from the [[University of Bordeaux]]. ==External links== *[http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/fellowship/obits/obits_alpha/kacser_henrik.pdf Obituary], Royal Society of Edinburgh *[http://bip.cnrs-mrs.fr/bip10/henrikjt.htm In memory of Henrik Kacser]: Special issue of the Journal of Theoretical Biology. *[http://bip.cnrs-mrs.fr/bip10/henrikbi.htm Annotated Bibliography of Henrik Kacser] {{DEFAULTSORT:Kacser, Henrik}} [[Category:1918 births]] [[Category:1995 deaths]] [[Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast]] [[Category:Biochemists]] [[Category:Geneticists]]