Background
Wächtershäuser, Günter was born on August 30, 1938 in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. Son of Wilhelm and Lina (Kieper) Wächtershäuser.
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Günter Wächtershäuser
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Günter Wächtershäuser, German Patent lawyer, researcher. Registered German patent attorney 1970; representative European Patent Office, 1978. Recipient Annual award Bavarian Academy Science, 1993; named honorary professor of University Regensburg, 1994. Member Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, Deutsche Patentanwaltskammer, International Federation Industrial Property Attorneys, International Society for Study of Origin of Life.
Education
Diploma in chemistry, University Marburg, 1963. Doctor in Natural Sciences, University Marburg, 1965.
Career
The theory is consistent with the hypothesis that life originated near seafloor hydrothermal vents. Wächtershäuser, a chemist by training, has been an international patent lawyer in Munich since 1970. He has published numerous articles in organic chemistry, genetic engineering and patent law, and has made contributions to evolutionary theory concerning the origins of perception and cognition, and the origin of life.
One of the key ideas advanced by Wächtershäuser is that an early form of metabolism predated genetics.
Metabolism here means a cycle of chemical reactions that produce energy in a form that can be harnessed by other processes. The idea is that once a primitive metabolic cycle was established, it began to produce ever more complex compounds.
His model is known as the iron-sulfur world theory by analogy with the Ribonucleic acid world hypothesis.
Achievements
Membership
Member Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, Deutsche Patentanwaltskammer, International Federation Industrial Property Attorneys, International Society for Study of Origin of Life.
Connections
Married Dorothy Laura Gray, May 23, 1970.
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Born
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Nationality
Germany -
Ethnicity
Education
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1963
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1965
Career
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1970
Awards
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In 1993 Wächtershäuser received the annual award of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the following year he was made an honorary professor at the University of Regensburg. In 1999 Wächtershäuser received the Bonn Chemistry Award and in 2008 he was made an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.In 1993 Wächtershäuser received the annual award of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the following year he was made an honorary professor at the University of Regensburg. In 1999 Wächtershäuser received the Bonn Chemistry Award and in 2008 he was made an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.