Studies on the Principles That Govern the Folding of Protein Chains

Stanford Moore, William Stein, and Anfinsen were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1972 for "their contribution to the understanding of the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the active center of the ribonuclease molecule." In his Nobel Lecture, Anfinsen provided a sketch of the rich history of research that provided the foundation for his work on protein folding and the "Thermodynamic Hypothesis," and outlined potential avenues of current and future scientific exploration.