(born 1944), German scientist and director of membrane biophysics at Max Planck Institute, born in Landsberg, Germany; earned physics degree at Technical University of Munich; earned master of science degree at University of Wisconsin 1967; graduate and postdoctoral work at Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry 1968–72; earned Ph.D. at Technical University of Munich 1970; joined Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry 1972–74; then worked at University of Washington and later Yale University; present position 1983; also named honorary professor at University of Göttingen and member of U.S. National Academy of Sciences; shared 1991 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine with Bert Sakmann for research into basic cell function and for development of patch-clamp technique (used in laboratories to detect electrical currents as small as one trillionth of one ampere through cell membranes). see also in index Nobel Prizewinners,