CRESSKILL, N.J. – Bruce Merrifield, whose accelerated process for making proteins helped researchers develop an array of medications and earned him the 1984 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died. He was 84.
Merrifield died at his Bergen County home May 14 after a long illness, family members said Friday.
In the early 1960s, Merrifield developed a rapid, automated system for making peptides, the building blocks of proteins. Proteins are the key components of all living organisms, and Merrifield’s innovation allowed researchers to make peptides and proteins in days, rather than years, according to Rockefeller University in New York City, where he worked.
His work helped in develop blood pressure medicines, insulin and hormone medications, and is used in genetic research.
“Merrifield’s methodology has brought about a revolution in peptide and protein chemistry,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in awarding him his Nobel Prize. “Without his research, some experiments and processes today done in days would have taken years, even decades.”
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