Robert Nalbandyan
The biochemical world of proteins and metals
Robert Nalbandyan was an Armenian biochemist, born in 1937. His scientific work investigated the structure and properties of proteins and the role of metals in biological systems.
With colleagues, Nalbandyan studied plantacyanin, a copper-containing plant protein. A 1975 paper described its isolation from spinach, while later investigations examined its distribution in different plants and its physical and chemical properties.
These studies brought biology and chemistry together to understand how metal-containing proteins function in cells. Nalbandyan died in 2002. His publications form part of Armenia’s biochemical research tradition and the wider international history of protein science.