Feodor Lynen was a well-respected biochemist whose work led to a better understanding of how cells make and use cholesterol and other materials necessary for life. His discovery of the structure of acetyl-coenzyme A led to a detailed description of the steps of several important life processes, including the metabolism of both cholesterol and fatty acids. Aside from influencing biochemistry, his work was also important to medicine because cholesterol was known to contribute to heart attacks, strokes, and other circulatory diseases. For his work on cholesterol and the fatty acid cycle, Lynen shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology with German-American biochemist Konrad Emil Bloch.

Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen was born in Munich, Germany, on April 6, 1911, the seventh of eight children. His father, Wilhelm L. Lynen, was a professor of engineering at the Munich Technical University. His mother, Frieda (Prym) Lynen, cared for the family. Lynen showed...