On 2 December 2025, Prof. em. Jürg P. Rosenbusch passed away in Basel at the age of 87. With his death, the Biozentrum loses an outstanding biochemist and a warm-hearted colleague who shaped the institute for two decades as a researcher and teacher. His scientific achievements in the field of structural biology, his integrity and willingness to help others, as well as his love of English literature, will remain in our memory.
Born in 1938 in Zurich, Jürg P. Rosenbusch studied medicine at the University of Zurich and completed his studies with a doctoral dissertation in 1963. He initially continued his scientific work as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston. This period proved decisive for his future career, as he chose to delve more deeply into the natural sciences and began a second degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at Harvard University in Cambridge. After earning his PhD in 1971, he came to the Biozentrum in 1972 and began his structural biology work on bacterial membrane proteins. After a decade of research at the Biozentrum, Rosenbusch decided to move to the renowned European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, where he worked as a group leader and programme coordinator.
Three years later, in 1985, he accepted a call from the University of Basel and returned to Basel as Full Professor at the Biozentrum. In the years leading up to his retirement in 1998, he developed a new concept for the crystallisation of membrane-bound proteins as a structural biologist at the Maurice E. Müller Institute. This approach made it possible to analyse the structure of labile proteins such as the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin. By producing highly ordered three-dimensional crystals, he succeeded in elucidating the structure and function of pore-forming membrane proteins such as porins, as well as receptors of the outer membrane, at atomic resolution. His work represented an important milestone that significantly advanced structural biology and gave new impetus to membrane-protein research. By the late 1990s, Rosenbusch was among the most highly cited scientists working in the field of structural biology.
His passion, however, extended beyond structural biology and membrane proteins to English literature, especially works from the Renaissance. Following his retirement in 1998, he devoted himself entirely to this second great interest. At times, one could even encounter him in a Basel café, deeply absorbed in reading a book from this period.
With great sadness, the Biozentrum bids farewell to an open-minded and imaginative scientist, a kind colleague, and a man of great integrity. We will honour the memory of Prof. em. Jürg P. Rosenbusch. Our deepest sympathy goes to his family and loved ones.
Contact: Communications, Katrin Bühler