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biochemistry
biochemistry
biochemistry The study of the chemistry of living organisms, especially the structure and function of their chemical components (principally proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids). Biochemistry has advanced rapidly with the development, from the mid-20th century, of such techniques as chromatography, spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, radioisotopic labelling, and electron microscopy. Using these techniques to separate and analyse biologically important molecules, the steps of the metabolic pathways in which they are involved (e.g.
glycolysis and the
Krebs cycle) have been determined. This has provided some knowledge of how organisms obtain and store energy, how they manufacture and degrade their biomolecules, how they sense and respond to their environment, and how all this information is carried and expressed by their genetic material. Biochemistry forms an important part of many other disciplines, especially physiology, nutrition, and genetics, and its discoveries have made a profound impact in medicine, agriculture, industry, and many other areas of human activity. See Chronology.
BIOCHEMISTRY
1833 | French chemist Anselme Payen (1795–1871) discovers diastase (the first enzyme to be discovered). |
1836 | Theodor Schwann discovers the digestive enzyme pepsin. |
c.1860 | Louis Pasteur demonstrates fermentation is caused by ‘ferments’ in yeasts and bacteria. |
1869 | German biochemist Johann Friedrich Miescher (1844–95) discovers nucleic acid. |
1877 | Pasteur's ‘ferments’ are designated as enzymes. |
1890 | German chemist Emil Fischer (1852–1919) proposes the ‘lock-and-key’ mechanism to explain enzyme action. |
1901 | Japanese chemist Jokichi Takamine (1854–1922) isolates adrenaline (the first hormone to be isolated). |
1903 | German biologist Eduard Buchner (1860–1917) discovers the enzyme zymase (causing fermentation). |
1904 | British biologist Arthur Harden (1865–1940) discovers coenzymes. |
1909 | Russian-born US biochemist Phoebus Levene (1869–1940) identifies ribose in RNA. |
1921 | Canadian physiologist Frederick Banting (1891–1941) and US physiologist Charles Best (1899–1978) isolate insulin. |
1922 | Alexander Fleming discovers the enzyme lysozyme. |
1925 | Russian-born British biologist David Keilin (1887–1963) discovers cytochrome. |
1926 | US biochemist James Sumner (1877–1955) crystallizes urease (the first enzyme to be isolated). |
1929 | German chemist Hans Fischer (1881–1945) determines the structure of haem (in haemoglobin). |
| K. Lohman isolates ATP from muscle. |
1930 | US biochemist John Northrop (1891–1987) isolates the enzyme pepsin. |
1932 | Swedish biochemist Hugo Theorell (1903–82) isolates the muscle protein myoglobin. |
1937 | Hans Krebs discovers the Krebs cycle. |
1940 | German-born US biochemist Fritz Lipmann (1899–1986) proposes that ATP is the carrier of chemical energy in many cells. |
1943 | US biochemist Britton Chance (1913– ) discovers how enzymes work (by forming an enzyme–substrate complex). |
1952 | US biologist Alfred Hershey (1908– ) proves that DNA carries genetic information. |
1953 | Francis Crick and James Watson discover the structure of DNA. |
1955 | Frederick Sanger discovers the amino acid sequence of insulin. |
1956 | US biochemist Arthur Kornberg (1918– ) discovers DNA polymerase. |
| US molecular biologist Paul Berg (1926– ) identifies the nucleic acid later known as transfer RNA. |
1957 | British biologist Alick Isaacs (1921–67) discovers interferon. |
1959 | Austrian-born British biochemist Max Perutz (1914– ) determines the structure of haemoglobin. |
1960 | South African-born British molecular biologist Sydney Brenner (1927– ) and French biochemist François Jacob (1920– ) discover messenger RNA. |
1961 | British biochemist Peter Mitchell (1920–92) proposes the chemiosmotic theory. |
| Brenner and Crick discover that the genetic code consists of a series of base triplets. |
1969 | US biochemist Gerald Edelman (1929– ) discovers the amino acid sequence of immunoglobulin G. |
1970 | US virologists Howard Temin (1934–94) and David Baltimore (1938– ) discover the enzyme reverse transcriptase. |
1970 | US molecular biologist Hamilton Smith (1931– ) discovers restriction enzymes. |
1973 | US biochemists Stanley Cohen (1935– ) and Herbert Boyer (1936– ) use restriction enzymes to produce recombinant DNA. |
1977 | Sanger determines the complete base sequence of DNA in bacteriophage φX174. |
1985 | British biochemist Alec Jeffreys (1950– ) devises DNA fingerprinting. |
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Research and Markets: Fundamentals of Biochemistry: Life at the Molecular Level, 3rd Edition.
Business Wire; 2/1/2008; 700+ words
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IUBMB selects Wiley to publish Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education.
M2 Presswire; 10/17/2006; 700+ words
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K-State biochemistry students earn awards.
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George A. Adrouny Memorialized in Biochemistry Award
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UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA DEPARTMENTS OF CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY, MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS TO MERGE
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International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Selects Wiley-Blackwell to Publish IUBMB Life.
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The successful use of case studies in Nutritional Biochemistry.
Magazine article from: Georgia Journal of Science; 6/22/2004; ; 700+ words
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New biochemistry study findings recently were published by researchers at University of Idaho.(Report)
Newspaper article from: Biotech Week; 9/10/2008; 700+ words
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Biochemistry
Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History
BIOCHEMISTRY BIOCHEMISTRY, the chemical investigation and explanation of biological processes. American biochemistry acquired its institutional base as a result of the medical reform...
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Nutritional Biochemistry
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of Food and Culture
NUTRITIONAL BIOCHEMISTRY NUTRITIONAL BIOCHEMISTRY. Nutritional biochemistry is one of the academic foundations that make up nutritional sciences, a discipline that encompasses the knowledge of nutrients and other food components with emphasis...
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biochemistry
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body
biochemistry The science of biochemistry, nowadays regarded as one of the fundamental pillars upon...chemistry and physiology, and indeed what we would today call biochemistry was commonly referred to as physiological chemistry a hundred...
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History of Biology: Biochemistry
Book article from: Biology
History of Biology: Biochemistry Biochemistry as a recognizably distinct discipline emerged at the beginning...on the chemical changes of cellular metabolism . Roots of Biochemistry Biochemistry had its roots in nineteenth-century physiological...
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Federico Mayor Zaragosa
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
...Mayor was appointed to the Chair of Biochemistry at the University of Granada and in...establishment of the "Specialization in Biochemistry," equivalent to a Master's degree in biochemistry, in the Faculties of Biology, Chemistry...
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