1925-1998

American biochemist who received the 1994 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of G-proteins, a class of proteins responsible for translating chemical and hormonal messages to cells. In the 1960s, Rodbell discovered that G-proteins, which bind with nucleotides guanosine diphosphate (GDP) and guanosine triphosphate (GTP), allow cells to communicate with one another. Rodbell's research led to great inroads in the understanding of diseases like cholera, diabetes, alcoholism, and cancer. Rodbell shared the Nobel Prize with pharmacologist Alfred Gilman, who later isolated the G-protein and provided its name.