Prof. Herbert Waldmann Honored with the Otto Hahn Award 2023

Professor Waldmann is one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of chemical biology. He played a major role in establishing the field of research and had a decisive influence on the development of the discipline as it progressed. At the interface between biology and chemistry, he combines methods from both disciplines and uses molecular probes as powerful tools to study biological phenomena. His work inspired innovative research in medicinal chemistry and paved the way for novel therapeutic interventions in cancer research, among others.

The “molecule maker”

In his laudation, Prof. Till Opatz, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, emphasized: “I particularly remember an apt and likeable quote by Herbert Waldmann: ‘I have always been a preparative organic chemist, a ‘molecule maker,’ and I will always be one.’ Professor Waldmann conducted comparative structural analyses [of natural substances] and, with the help of computer science, was able to create phylogenetic trees of natural substance scaffolds, which the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung once compared to the periodic table of the elements."

In his scientific work, Waldmann designed a novel methodology to synthesize fully functional proteins. He also developed a general conceptual framework for the design and synthesis of bioactive small molecules that modulate protein function. These approaches have been successfully applied in biological research and have provided new insights into important biological processes, especially signal transduction.

With his group, the chemist developed a synthesis method for lipidated proteins, especially the Ras-GTPases, which are mutated in about 20 % of all human cancers. This led to significant insights into their role in biological signal transduction, including the discovery of the dynamic “Ras cycle”. This research enables the development of small molecule inhibitors that can inhibit the growth of Ras-dependent tumors and opens up new possibilities for novel therapeutic interventions.

In his current research, Waldmann and his group are specifically developing so-called pseudo natural products. These are biologically active substances with novel basic chemical structures. They consist of building blocks of natural substances, but are not natural substances themselves. In order to develop such pseudo-natural substances, Waldmann analyses how the biological properties of natural substances are encoded in their structure. The elements of this structural code are then linked together to form new substances. Cell cultures are then used to check whether the pseudo natural substance has new biological activity. If so, it can serve in drug discovery as a starting point for the development of new medicines. 

About Professor Herbert Waldmann

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Herbert Waldmann completed his studies in chemistry with a doctorate at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz in 1985. After two years at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, he returned to Mainz, where he habilitated in 1991. After holding positions at the University of Bonn and the University of Karlsruhe, he has headed the Department of Chemical Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology since 1999 and is also Professor of Biochemistry the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology of TU Dortmund University. Since 2005, he has also headed the Chemical Genomics Centre of the Max Planck Society. Waldmann has been a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 2004. In 2014, Leiden University, NL, awarded him an honorary doctorate.

The text is based on press releases of the GDCh, the city of Frankfurt am Main and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology.

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