Schoenheimer, Rudolf

Work on the biosynthesis of cholesterol began in earnest after Rudolf Schoenheimer and David Rittenberg, at Columbia University, developed isotopic tracer techniques for the analysis of biochemical pathways. In 1941, Rittenberg and Konrad Bloch were able to show that deuterium-labeled acetate (C2H, COO ) was a precursor of cholesterol in rats and mice. In 1949, James Bonner and Barbarin Arreguin postulated that three acetates could combine to form a single five-carbon unit called isoprene. 

In 1935 Urey was successful in preparing by evaporation a sample of water considerably enriched in D2O, and he realized the importance of this substance for establishing the details of chemical reactions in living systems. Rudolf Schoenheimer took advantage of this development at once, and until his death in 1941 pioneered an extensive series of biological investigations. 

Young, V.R. and A. Ajami, 1999. The Rudolf Schoenheimer Centenary Lecture. Isotopes in nutrition research. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 58, 15-32. 

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