University of Virginia Library

Nobel Winner Gives Burger Lecture

A Nobel Prize-winning biochemist will
present the annual Burger Lecture at the
University Friday.

Sponsored by the Department of
Chemistry, Konrad E. Bloch, Higgins
professor of biochemistry at Harvard
University, will discuss "The Mode of
Action and the Active Site of a
Multifunctional Enzyme," examining
ways in which biological catalysts regulate rates
of chemical reactions in living systems.

In 1964, Mr. Bloch received the Nobel Prize
in medicine and physiology for his discoveries
concerning the mechanism and regulation of
cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism.

Cholesterol, thought to play a key role in
heart disease, is a steroid, one of a class of
complex compounds including bile acids, sex
hormones and vitamin D. Much of Mr. Bloch's
research has been directed toward determining
the biological and biochemical role of cholesterol.

The lecture, open to the public, will begin at
8:15 p.m. in the Chemistry Building Auditorium.

Established in 1964 under sponsorship of
the University Alumni Fund and the Department
of Chemistry, the Burger Lecture is
named in honor of Alfred Burger, professor of
chemistry and member of the University
faculty since 1938.