Matthew J. Guberman-Pfeffer

A computational biochemist (Baylor University) who models electron transfer through multi-heme proteins using non-adiabatic Marcus theory. His 2024 Frontiers in Microbiology perspective, "To be or not to be a cytochrome: electrical characterizations are inconsistent with Geobacter cytochrome 'nanowires'," argues that the measured currents reported for Geobacter cytochrome nanowires exceed by 10²–10⁵-fold the maximum a heme wire could physically carry by redox hopping — while still affirming that the filaments are cytochromes.

Matters to this vault as the fourth, largely independent voice in the Geobacter nanowire dispute: not aligned in this paper with either the Lovley e-pili camp or the Malvankar cytochrome camp, he grants the cryo-EM structural identity and attacks the electrical measurements instead (claim-guberman-pfeffer-blames-measurement-not-cytochrome-identity). His contribution is a computed-physics prong — a Marcus-theory upper bound on redox-hopping current the reported conductivities are measured against (claim-guberman-pfeffer-0-14-pa-ceiling-is-computed-not-measured).

References

• claim-2024-paper-disputes-geobacter-cytochrome-nanowire-conductivity
• claim-guberman-pfeffer-0-14-pa-ceiling-is-computed-not-measured
• claim-guberman-pfeffer-blames-measurement-not-cytochrome-identity