Congratulations, you just won the Nobel Prize

with the right people.“

Born in Shanghai as a son of French-Austrian parents, he was educated in Geneva, Switzerland. It was Kurt H. Meyer, a well-known professor of Organic Chemistry, who in the 1940s, triggered Fischers´ interest in the molecules that later became the focus of his awarded research. Arriving in the United States in 1950, he was surprised at the various academic opportunities that were offered to him.

“Within a short period of time I found myself in the position of choosing among a variety of jobs. I remember it vividly when I was invited to a job interview in Seattle,“ says Fischer smiling. “I was supposed to meet Hans Neurath, the Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, at the University of Washington at 12 noon. Trying to find my way I was half an hour late but didn´t think much of it. My future colleague and fellow receiver of the Nobel prize Ed Krebs, who was a postdoc at Neurath´s lab, later told me that he was sure I would not get the position since it was considered impolite to keep the boss waiting. Being asked what I was interested in apart from work I answered that hiking and playing the piano was also a substantial part of my life. I guess, sometimes it’s what you like otherwise that gets you into a job.“

Together with Edwin Krebs, he started off working on glycogen phosphorylase. In the mid-1950s the scientists discovered how this enzyme that catalyzes the release of glucose from glycogen in the body employs its mode of action. It is been “switched on“ by the addition of a phosphate group that is fascilitated through another enzyme they named “protein kinase“. They further showed that removing the phosphate group by a phosphatase inactivates the enzyme. This process, known as reversible protein phosphorylation, found its way into today’s textbooks. “We had been extremely lucky to find another universal mechanism by which proteins function in a variety of physiological processes, such as the release of hormones, gene expression and immune responses to several diseases,“ he told the audience during his lecture in Frankfurt.

“This is yet another example of what makes fundamental research so attractive: one knows where to take off but one never knows where one will end up.“

In recognition of his contributions to our understanding of how enzymes work, Fischer was awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with his long-time coworker Edwin Krebs. Since their first encounter in Seattle, a deep friendship and a very productive collaboration had risen between the two of them. “He was not only the colleague that would finish off experiments when one of us had to leave, he also helped me to renew and change my view on America.” Fisher refers to the McCarthy presidency and claims that the president, “who practically saw communists everywhere”, was creating a tense atmosphere also among scientists.

Scientifically, the 1960s were a decade of flourishing. The number of medical schools increased dramatically. The National Institute of Health (NIH) stopped funding only the big and well-rewarded institutions. Money was granted to science that was inventive and creative. With this, the academic establishment was turned upside down. Post docs would get huge funding for their research ideas whereas their professors might not have received grants. Fischer remembers a particular case in which he, as a member of the evaluation board, had to decline an application although they would have had money to give. Different from today’s practice, the funding of basic research was not exclusively based on the condition of creating drugs to treat diseases. “You were supported in your scientific interests and this strategy paid off,“ said Fischer. Fischer further emphasized the fact that it is important to share expertise as well as equipment that are needed for good science. One has to spread knowledge and should not keep to one self. “Research has become highly competitive. That’s why it is important especially for young scientists to find the niche in which one can still contribute to greater knowledge and at the same time be enthusiastic about it. “

Students that have had the opportunity to take part at the annual meeting of Nobel laureates in Lindau might have listened to Ed Fischer playing the piano. His life could have taken another turn if Fischer had decided to take on a career as a musician.