Irwin_Fridovich
Irwin Fridovich
American biochemist (1929-2019)
Irwin Fridovich (August 2, 1929 – November 2, 2019)[1] was an American biochemist who, together with his graduate student Joe M. McCord, discovered the enzymatic activity of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD),[2][3]—to protect organisms from the toxic effects of superoxide free radicals formed as a byproduct of normal oxygen metabolism.[4] Subsequently, Fridovich's research group also discovered the manganese-containing[5] and the iron-containing[6] SODs from Escherichia coli and the mitochondrial MnSOD (SOD2),[7] now known to be an essential protein in mammals.[8] He spent the rest of his career studying the biochemical mechanisms of SOD and of biological superoxide toxicity, using bacteria as model systems.[9][10][11] Fridovich was also Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Duke University.