Biologjia Online

Konrad Emil Bloch (1912–2000) was born in Neisse, eastern Germany (now Nysa in Poland). Growing up he was more interested in engineering and natural sciences than chemistry, but an organic chemistry course taught by future Nobel laureate Hans Fischer at the Technische Hochschule in Munich provided a turning point. Bloch said of Fischer's class, "As he presented it, the subject matter was fascinating, the organization superb, and the delivery monotonous" (1). Despite Fischer's monotone delivery, Bloch was influenced enough to become a chemistry student in his laboratory.1