Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat is an internationally known German-born biochemist who became a naturalized citizen of the United States. The majority of his research, and the studies for which he is best known, was conducted at the University of Berkeley, California. Fraenkel-Conrat's research helped advance the study of viruses. He determined that under certain conditions, a virus could be separated into its component parts. These studies revealed both the virus's infective agent and its method of replication. Fraenkel-Conrat's research inspired numerous studies of viruses, which proved useful in the explanation of molecular biological processes such as replication and mutation.

Fraenkel-Conrat was born July 29, 1910, in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocllaw, Poland) to Ludwig Fraenkel, a gynecologist who was famous for his discoveries concerning mammalian ovulation, and Lili Conrat Fraenkel. Fraenkel-Conrat was educated in Munich, Vienna, Geneva, and at the University of Breslau, where he received his M.D. in 1933. He left Germany...