In 1947, after WWII and the Soviet occupation of Hungary, Albert Szent-Györgyi moved to the MBL. He became one of the first year-round scientists and established the Institute for Muscle Research.
Szent-Györgyi had received a Nobel Prize in 1937 for his work with vitamin C. The following year, he and members of his lab discovered and eventually separated the previously elusive protein actin from preparations of muscle myosin.
Szent-Györgyi and his team also described the role of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as the energy source for muscle contraction and cellular respiration. This led to his pioneering work using electron microscopy to analyze muscle tissue.