| Citation | Dr. Winter is distinguished for his contributions to nucleic acid and protein chemistry which have led to the establishing of protein engineering as a scientific discipline. Working with B.S. Hartley he determined the entire amino acid sequence of the tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase. This was followed by his role in sequencing the genome of flu virus. In 1982, he published with Fersht the first study in protein engineering in which an enzyme of known structure was systematically dissected using site-directed mutagenesis. Mutants of the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase were designed and analysed to elucidate the reaction mechanism and provide general information on the nature of enzyme catalysis and the strengths of binding interactions. Winter then initiated studies in antibody engineering. He synthesized an antibody composed of mouse and human segments which retained the binding capacity of mouse antibody. This has far reaching practical implications in therapy. All his work is characterized by the introduction of novel and ingenious experimental methods (e.g. 'clone turnaround' in DNA sequencing, primer selection methods in mutagenesis) and imaginative concepts. Winter was awarded the 1986 Colworth Medal and shared the 1986 Novo Biotechnology Prize with Fersht. |