1900-1981

German-born British Biochemist

Hans Adolf Krebs won the 1953 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine, which he shared with American biochemist Fritz Albert Lipmann (1899-1986), for his studies of intermediary metabolism, especially his discovery of the metabolic pathway known as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, or Krebs cycle, the major source of energy in living organisms. In the presence of oxygen, the reactions of the TCA cycle result in the conversion of the metabolic products of sugars, fats, and proteins into carbon dioxide, water, and energy-rich compounds. Krebs was also involved in the discovery of the metabolic pathway known as the urea cycle. The urea cycle allows ammonia to be converted into urea, a less toxic substance that is excreted in the urine of most mammals. This cycle also serves as a source for the amino acid arginine.

Krebs was born in Hildesheim in...