Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883-1970) was born on this date in 1883, in Freiburg, Germany. A cell biologist and biochemist, he won the 1931 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his pioneering work in human cell respiration. Warburg discovered how living cells use oxygen to change matter into energy. The human body uses enzymes, which Warburg called "oxygen transferring enzymes," to convert heat into energy. Combustion of any material produces heat, and Warburg figured that human cells must produce heat as they burn oxygen. He also showed that cancerous cells are able to live and prosper in the body without any oxygen.

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