Anfinsen, Christian B.

Christian B. Anfinsen, in full Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, (born March 26, 1916, Monessen, Pa., U.S.—died May 14, 1995, Randallstown, Md.), American biochemist who, with Stanford Moore and William H. Stein, received the 1972 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for research clarifying the relationship between the molecular structure of proteins and their biological functions.

Anfinsen received a doctorate in biochemistry from Harvard University in 1943 and then held various research and teaching positions. He joined the staff of the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Md.) in 1950, and he headed the laboratory of chemical biology in the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases from 1963 to 1982. He was a professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University from 1982 until his death.

In his Nobel Prize-winning research, Anfinsen studied how the enzyme ribonuclease breaks down the ribonucleic acid (RNA) present in food. Anfinsen was able to ascertain how the ribonuclease molecule folds to form the characteristic three-dimensional structure that is compatible with its function. His writings include The Molecular Basis of Evolution (1959).