View source for Erwin Neher

{{Short description|German biophysicist and Nobel laureate}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Erwin Neher
| image             = Erwin Neher in Szeged (cropped).jpg
| image_size        =
| caption           = Erwin Neher in June 2015
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1944|3|20|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Landsberg am Lech]], [[Bavaria]], Germany
| death_date        =
| death_place       =
| residence         =
| citizenship       =
| nationality       = [[Germany|German]]
| ethnicity         =
| field             = [[Biophysics]]<ref>''Elektronische Messtechnik in der Physiologie''. Berlin, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1974.</ref><ref>Single-channel recording / edited by Bert Sakmann and Erwin Neher. New York: Plenum Press, c1983. {{ISBN|0-306-41419-8}}</ref><ref>''Single-Channel Recording'' / edited by Bert Sakmann and Erwin Neher. 2nd ed. New York: Plenum Press, c1995. {{ISBN|0-306-44870-X}}</ref>
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Göttingen]]
* [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]
* [[Yale University]]
* [[Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry]]}}
| alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Technical University of Munich]]
* [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]}}
| doctoral_students =
| academic_advisors = [[Charles F. Stevens]]
| known_for         = [[patch clamp]]
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences        =
| influenced        =
| prizes            =  {{Plainlist|
* [[W. Alden Spencer Award]] (1983)
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1991)
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]] (1994)<ref name=formemrs/>
* [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize]] (1987)
*  [[Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]] (1986)}}
| religion          =
| footnotes         =
| website = {{URL|http://www.mpg.de/323786/biophysikalische_chemie_wissM6}}
}}

'''Erwin Neher''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɛʁviːn ˈneːɐ|-|De-Erwin Neher.ogg}}; {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|eɪ|ər}};<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/neher "Neher"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> born 20 March 1944) is a German [[biophysics|biophysicist]], specializing in the field of [[cell physiology]]. For significant contribution in the field, in 1991 he was awarded, along with [[Bert Sakmann]], the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] for "their discoveries concerning the function of single [[ion channel]]s in cells".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1991/neher-autobio.html|title=Nobel autobiography of Neher}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neurotree.org/neurotree/tree.php?pid=1206|title=Neurotree - Erwin Neher Family Tree|website=neurotree.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/40|title=Erwin Neher - Science Video Interview|first=Chris|last=Dean|website=Vega Science Trust}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Neher was born in [[Landsberg am Lech]], [[Upper Bavaria]], the son of Elisabeth (née Pfeiffer), a teacher, and Franz Xaver Neher, an executive at a dairy company.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1991/neher-bio.html | title=Erwin Neher – Biographical, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1991 |work=nobelprize.org |publisher=Nobel Media AB|access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref> He studied physics at the [[Technical University of Munich]] from 1963 to 1966.

In 1966, he was awarded a [[Fulbright Scholarship]] to study in the US. He spent a year at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], and earned a master's degree in biophysics. While at the laboratory of the [[Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry]] he met fellow scientist [[Eva-Maria Neher]] (born Ruhr), whom he married in 1978 and subsequently the couple had five children – Richard, Benjamin, Carola, Sigmund and Margret.{{Sfn|Schoenfeld|2006|p=264}}

In 2003 Neher was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |title=Notable Signers |publisher=American Humanist Association |work=Humanism and Its Aspirations |access-date=October 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005105825/http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |archive-date=October 5, 2012 }}</ref>

==Career==
In 1986, he was awarded the [[Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]] from [[Columbia University]] together with [[Bert Sakmann]]. In 1987, he received the [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize]] of the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]], which is the highest honour awarded in German research.  Along with [[Bert Sakmann]], he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] in 1991 for "their discoveries concerning the function of single [[ion channels]] in cells".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1991|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1991/|work=Nobelprize.org|access-date=16 May 2011}}</ref>  Neher and Sakmann were the first to record the currents of single ion channels on a live cell (they were first recorded using the lipid bilayer method) through their development of the [[patch-clamp technique]],.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Neher E, Sakmann B |title=The patch clamp technique |journal=Scientific American |volume=266 |issue=3 |pages=44–51 |date=March 1992 |pmid=1374932 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0392-44|bibcode=1992SciAm.266c..44N }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Neher E |title=Correction for liquid junction potentials in patch clamp experiments |volume=207 |pages=123–31 |year=1992 |pmid=1528115 |doi=10.1016/0076-6879(92)07008-C |series=Methods in Enzymology |isbn=978-0-12-182108-1|chapter=&#91;6&#93; Correction for liquid junction potentials in patch clamp experiments }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Neher E |title=The use of the patch clamp technique to study second messenger-mediated cellular events |journal=Neuroscience |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=727–34 |date=September 1988 |pmid=2462183 |doi=10.1016/0306-4522(88)90094-2|s2cid=45756434 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Neher E, Sakmann B, Steinbach JH |title=The extracellular patch clamp: a method for resolving currents through individual open channels in biological membranes |journal=Pflügers Archiv |volume=375 |issue=2 |pages=219–28 |date=July 1978 |pmid=567789 |doi=10.1007/BF00584247|s2cid=8035857 }}</ref>  The methodology has been further developed with the strong encouragement of [[Charles F. Stevens]] in his laboratory at [[Yale University]].

Since 1983, he became a director at the [[Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry]] in [[Göttingen]] and led the Department for Membrane Biophysics. He turned into an emeritus director of the Institute since 2011. He is also a Professor Emeritus at the [[University of Göttingen]] and used to be co-chair of the [[Bernstein Network|Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Göttingen]].

==Honors and awards==
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1991, jointly with Bert Sakmann)<ref name=NobelBiog>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1991/neher/biographical/ |title=Erwin Neher Biographical |website=www.nobelprize.org |date=  |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref>
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (1994)<ref name=formemrs/>
* [[Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience]] (1991)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience |url=https://www.sfn.org/careers/awards/outstanding-career-and-research-achievements-awards/ralph-w-gerard-prize |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.sfn.org |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize]] (1987)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |title=Liste der mit dem Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Preis Ausgezeichneten |url=https://www.dfg.de/resource/blob/169450/download-gwl-preis-uebersicht-leibniz-preistraeger-innen.pdf |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.dfg.de}}</ref>
* [[Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]] (1986)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=1990 - 1981 Awardees |url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/research/louisa-gross-horwitz-prize/horwitz-prize-awardees/1990-1981-awardees |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=Columbia University Irving Medical Center |language=en}}</ref>

Neher holds honorary degrees from:<ref name=NobelBiog/>
* University of Alicante, Spain, 1993
* University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 1993
* Technical University of Munich, FRG, 1994
* [[University of Madrid]], Spain, 1994
* [[Huazhong University of Science & Technology|Huazhong University of Sciences & Technology]], Wuhan, PR China, 1994
* University of Bahía Blanca, Argentina, 1995
* University of Rome, Italy, 1996
* [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], Israel, 1999
* [[University of Pavia]], 2000
* [[Oxford University]], 2025<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-25 |title=Honorary degrees awarded at Encaenia 2025 {{!}} University of Oxford |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-06-25-honorary-degrees-awarded-encaenia-2025 |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=www.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

Neher was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1994|Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1994]].<ref name=formemrs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011204358/https://royalsociety.org/people/erwin-neher-11998/|archive-date=2015-10-11|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/erwin-neher-11998/|title=Professor Erwin Neher ForMemRS|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last= Schoenfeld |first=Robert L |title=Exploring the Nervous System: With Electronic Tools, an Institutional Base, a Network of Scientists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTy1Y-P_0VMC&pg=PA284|date=January 2006|publisher=Universal-Publishers|isbn=978-1-58112-461-3}}

==External links==
{{Scholia|author}}
* {{Nobelprize}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1991 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{FRS 1994}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neher, Erwin}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:German biophysicists]]
[[Category:German Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners]]
[[Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]
[[Category:People from Landsberg am Lech]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Studienstiftung alumni]]
[[Category:Technical University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Göttingen]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni]]
[[Category:Max Planck Society people]]
[[Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts]]
[[Category:Electrophysiologists]]
[[Category:Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities]]
[[Category:Max Planck Institute directors]]