Dorothy Hodgkin, Nobel prize winning biochemist, celebrated in Google Doodle

Her pioneering work helped unravel the structures of proteins, including insulin, which she studied for more than 30 years.

Hodgkin remains the only British woman to have ever won one of the Science Nobels, which she was awarded in 1964. Photograph: Google

Google has honoured the Nobel prize winning biochemist Dorothy Hodgkin, with her very own Google Doodle on what would have been the scientist's 104th birthday.

Hodgkin, who was born in Egypt in 1910, was credited with the development of protein crystallography and established the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin.

She became interested in chemistry and crystals as a child and went on to study at Oxford, followed by a PhD at Cambridge. Her pioneering work helped unravel the structures of proteins, including insulin, which she studied for more than 30 years.

Hodgkin was the first woman to win a prestigious Copley Medal and was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Bath in 1978.

Until 1949 she published under her maiden name of Crowfoot until she was persuaded to use her married name for research on the chemistry of penicillin.

Hodgkin remains the only British woman to have ever won one of the Science Nobels, which she was awarded in 1964, but the British press were unable to forget her gender. The Daily Mail reported at the time: "Oxford housewife wins Nobel", while the Telegraph wrote: "British woman wins Nobel Prize – £18,750 prize to mother of three."

She died on July 29, 1994.