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Obituary

Nature Cell Biology 10, 1374 (1 December 2008) | doi:10.1038/ncb1208-1374

George Palade 1912|[ndash]|2008

David D. Sabatini

George Emil Palade, universally hailed as the founder of modern cell biology for his many discoveries and insights into the structure and function of eukaryotic cells, died on 7 October at the age of 95. He was pre-eminent among a small group of scientists who, in the mid-twentieth century, first used the electron microscope to study cell structure, developed and refined techniques necessary to observe cells, and introduced methods that permitted the isolation and biochemical characterization of many cell structures.