Pehr Victor Edman, 14 April 1916 - 19 March 1977

Abstract

Pehr Edman died after a short illness at the age of 60 in Munich. His untimely death brought to an end a long and challenging undertaking which although not quite finished to his own satisfaction has brought about a revolution in protein chemistry. Edman’s work has provided chemists with a capability undreamt of a generation ago: the power to determine the amino acid sequence of long runs of peptide chain with speed and precision by an automated method. This has put into man’s grasp essential information for the study of the genetic replication of enzymes and structural proteins and has completed the graduation of protein chemistry from a branch of colloid science to a fundamental organ of molecular genetics. It now seems scarcely necessary to say that the sequencing of proteins, combined with X-ray diffraction analysis, provides a powerful tool to aid the determination of their complete spatial configuration including that of the interface with solvent which carries most of the biological activity. Extension of knowledge of protein sequences is essential in the search for evolutionary relationships between different proteins. In addition, studies of numerous heritable diseases are now showing how aberrant enzymes and structural proteins produced by genetic errors affecting the primary sequence may give rise to the malfunctions observed and how this exact knowledge may sometimes be used to alleviate the condition.