Konrad Bloch's investigations of the complex processes by which animal cells produce cholesterol have helped to increase scientific understanding of the biochemistry of living organisms. Bloch's research established the vital importance of cholesterol in animal cells, and helped lay the groundwork for further research into treatment of various common diseases. For his contributions to the study of the metabolism of cholesterol, he was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

Bloch was born in the German town of Neisse (now Nysa, Poland) to Frederich (Fritz) D. Bloch and Hedwig Bloch. Sources list his mother's maiden name variously as Steiner, Steimer, or Striemer. After receiving his early education in local schools, Bloch attended the Technische Hochschule (technical university) in Munich from 1930 to 1934, studying chemistry and chemical engineering. He earned the equivalent of a B.S. in chemical engineering in 1934, the year after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany...