Morris Friedkin

Friedkin was an American biochemist who elucidated key steps of folate metabolism and nucleotide biosynthesis, including the enzyme thymidylate synthase and the intermediate deoxyribose-1-phosphate, research central to understanding DNA synthesis and to the design of anticancer folate-analog drugs. He earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago and taught at Washington University, Tufts and the University of California, San Diego. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and was Jewish.