Dr. Stephen Withers
Fellow
Current Employer
The University of British Columbia
Election Year
2002
Academy
Academy of Science
Discipline
Chemistry
Department
Department of Chemistry
Keywords
Enzymology, carbohydrates, mechanisms of reaction, glycosidases, proteins
Professor Stephen Withers is one of the foremost authorities on the operation of glycosidases, enzymes that catalyze the decomposition of carbohydrate polymers like cellulose. His strategy for trapping glycosidase reaction intermediates is used in many laboratories worldwide. Withers recently showed that the textbook mechanism for the enzyme lysozyme, a mechanism taught to many hundreds of thousands of students each year, is incorrect.