Nobel Laureate biochemist

Born: July 31st 1918

Died: June 2nd 2018

PAUL D. Boyer, who has died aged 99, shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1997 for his research on the synthesis of the cellular energy source adenosine triposphate (ATP), “the currency of all cells,” as he put it.

His work gave the world a greater understanding of energy storage in all living cells, helping discover how energy transfers in cells are produced. He shared the 1997 prize with the Yorkshireman (later Sir) John Ernest Walker and with Danish biophysician Jens Christian Skou for research in the same areas.

At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr Boyer devoted himself to the study of enzymes, particularly the process by which the energy that the human body gets from the combustion of food is converted largely to ATP. Every cell function relies on ATP, from the building of bones to the contraction of muscles and the transmission of nerve impulses.

ATP absorbs the chemical energy released by the combustion of nutrients, a process that includes photosynthesis in plants and digestion in animals, and transfers it to fuel functions that require energy, such as the growth of cell parts, the contraction of muscles, and the transmission of nerve messages.

Substantial quantities of ATP are produced and consumed by the human body each day. Dr Boyer’s insights helped illuminate the world’s understanding of these processes and he called his discovery “a beautiful little molecular machine.”

Scientists had known of ATP for many years but had not worked out how it was formed. It was in 1994 that the English scientist (Sir) John Ernest Walker confirmed Dr Boyer’s earlier findings, later leading to their Nobel Prize.

At UCLA, Dr Boyer became involved in a new Molecular Biology Institute and he served as its director from 1965-83. “He really believed in humans, and he believed in the ability of science to help humans live better lives,” according to his daughter, Gail Boyer Hayes.

He believed in humans, but not in God. He was a convinced atheist, criticising “the man-made concept of a God” and insisting that science and skepticism were essential for a free society “Religious fundamentalists successfully oppose the teaching of evolution, and by this decry the teaching of critical thinking. If we fail to teach our children the skills they need to think clearly, they will march behind whatever guru wears the shiniest cloak,” he said.

Paul Delos Boyer was born on July 31, 1918, in Provo, Utah, at the time a small town later known as the hometown of the Osmonds. His father was an osteopath. His mother died of Addison’s disease when Paul was only 15, sparking his interest in biochemistry and possible cures for such diseases.

He graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo in 1939, adding a doctorate in biochemistry in 1943 from the University of Wisconsin in Madison before serving briefly in the U.S. Navy towards the end of World War Two, based at the Navy Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. There he worked with a wartime team that developed a means of stabilizing blood plasma proteins for field blood transfusions that is still used today.

After the war, he first worked and taught at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis before moving in 1963 to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he spent most of his career until he retired in 1990 at the age of 72. He gave much of his Nobel prize cash to UCLA and other universities where he had studied or taught.

When he won the Nobel prize, Dr Boyer donated a portion of the cash prize to support postdoctoral fellowships in chemistry. He also donated his brain to UCLA for research into Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Friends said he was, in any spare time and in retirement, a DIY expert, able to instal his own plumbing and electrics in his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

Dr Boyer died at home after respiratory failure. He is survived by his wife of 78 years, Lyda (née Whicker), daughters Gail and Alexandra, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His only son Douglas died in 2001.

Phil Davison