J. Heinrich Matthaei is a German biochemist. He is best known for having solved the genetic code with Marshall Warren Nirenberg by performing the poly-U experiment at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland on May 15, 1961. This experiment paved the way for modern genetics. Later, Matthaei was a member of the Max Planck Society in Göttingen.
References
J. Heinrich Matthaei and Marshall W. Nirenberg Characteristics and Stabilization of DNA ase-Sensitive Protein Synthesis in E. coli Extracts PNAS 1961 47: 1580-1588.
Marshall W. Nirenberg and J. Heinrich Matthaei The Dependence of Cell- Free Protein Synthesis in E. coli upon Naturally Occurring or Synthetic Polyribonucleotides PNAS 1961 47: 1588-1602.
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger - "Experimentalsysteme - Eine Geschichte der Proteinsynthese im Reagenzglas" Wallstein ISBN 3-89244-454-4