John E. Walker

John E. Walker

Birth date	Birth date -1st March 1966
Birth place	Halifax, England
Nationality	British
Known for	ATP synthase

Sir John Ernest Walker (born 7 January 1939) is a British biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1997 for his work on the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). He shared the prize with Paul D. Boyer and Jens C. Skou.

Early life and education

Walker was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. He attended Rastrick Grammar School and later studied chemistry at St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he received his BA in 1960. He completed his PhD at the University of Oxford in 1965, focusing on peptide synthesis.

Career

After completing his PhD, Walker worked at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France. In 1974, he joined the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, where he began his groundbreaking work on ATP synthase.

Research

Walker is best known for his research on ATP synthase, an enzyme that plays a crucial role in cellular respiration by synthesizing ATP, the primary energy carrier in cells. His work provided insights into the mechanism of ATP synthesis, which involves a rotary catalysis process. This discovery was pivotal in understanding how cells produce energy.

Awards and honors

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Walker has received numerous awards and honors, including:

• The Copley Medal (2012)
• The Royal Medal (1999)
• The Knight Bachelor (1999)

Personal life

Walker is married and has two children. He continues to be active in the scientific community, contributing to research and mentoring young scientists.

See also

• List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry
• ATP synthase
• Biochemistry

References

• ,

 The ATP synthase: the understood, the uncertain and the unknown, 
 Biochemical Society Transactions, 
 2013,
 Vol. 41(Issue: 1),
 pp. 1–16,
 DOI: 10.1042/BST20110773,

• ,

 Energy, Life, and ATP, 
  
 Cambridge University Press, 
 2000, 
  
  
 ISBN 978-0521784996,

External links

• Nobel Prize biography
• MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology profile