Hildegard Lamfrom
Hildegard Lamfrom | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 19, 1922 |
| Died | August 28, 1984 (aged 62) |
| Known for | protein translation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | biochemistry, molecular biology |
| Institutions | Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Carlsberg Laboratory, Caltech, MRC Laboratory, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Institute of Molecular Biology in Eugene, Oregon, UCSD, Harvard Medical School |
| Thesis | (1949) |
| Doctoral advisor | Harry Goldblatt |
Hildegard Lamfrom was a German-American molecular biologist/biochemist. She helped develop one of the first in-vitro translation systems, using rabbit reticulocyte lysate to study protein synthesis (a process called translation) in a cell-free context. This allowed her to make a number of contributions to the field including providing some of the first direct evidence for the existence of messenger RNA (mRNA) as a protein template, as well as the existence of polyribosomes (aka polysomes) (multiple ribosomes translating on the same mRNA).