History
At its most comprehensive definition, biochemistry can be seen as a study of
the components and composition of living things and how they come
together to become life. In this sense, the history of biochemistry may
therefore go back as far as the ancient Greeks. However, biochemistry as a
specific scientific discipline began sometime in the 19th century, or a little
earlier, depending on which aspect of biochemistry is being focused on.
Some argued that the beginning of biochemistry may have been the
discovery of the first enzyme, diastase (now called amylase), in 1833 by
Anselme Payen, while others considered Eduard Buchner's first
demonstration of a complex biochemical process alcoholic fermentation in
cell-free extracts in 1897 to be the birth of biochemistry. Some might also
point as its beginning to the influential 1842 work by Justus von Liebig,
Animal chemistry, or, Organic chemistry in its applications to physiology and
pathology, which presented a chemical theory of metabolism, or even earlier
to the 18th century studies on fermentation and respiration by Antoine
Lavoisier. Many other pioneers in the field who helped to uncover the layers
of complexity of biochemistry have been proclaimed founders of modern
biochemistry. Emil Fischer, who studied the chemistry of proteins, and F.
Gowland Hopkins, who studied enzymes and the dynamic nature of
biochemistry, represent two examples of early biochemists.
The term "biochemistry" was first used when Vinzenz Kletzinsky (1826–
1882) had his "Compendium der Biochemie" printed in Vienna in 1858;
it derived from a combination of biology and chemistry. In 1877, Felix
Hoppe-Seyler used the term (biochemie in German) as a synonym for
physiological chemistry in the foreword to the first issue of Zeitschrift
für Physiologische Chemie (Journal of Physiological Chemistry) where
he argued for the setting up of institutes dedicated to this field of
study. The German chemist Carl Neuberg however is often cited to
have coined the word in 1903, while some credited it to Franz
Hofmeister.
It was once generally believed that life and its materials had some
essential property or substance (often referred to as the "vital
principle") distinct from any found in non-living matter, and it was
thought that only living beings could produce the molecules of life. In
1828, Friedrich Wöhler published a paper on his serendipitous urea
synthesis from potassium cyanate and ammonium sulfate; some
regarded that as a direct overthrow of vitalism and the establishment
of organic chemistry. However, the Wöhler synthesis has sparked
controversy as some reject the death of vitalism at his hands. Since
then, biochemistry has advanced, especially since the mid-20th
century, with the development of new techniques such as
chromatography, X-ray diffraction, dual polarisation interferometry,
NMR spectroscopy, radioisotopic labeling, electron microscopy and
molecular dynamics simulations. These techniques allowed for the
discovery and detailed analysis of many molecules and metabolic
pathways of the cell, such as glycolysis and the Krebs cycle (citric acid
cycle), and led to an understanding of biochemistry on a molecular
level.
Another significant historic event in biochemistry is the discovery of
the gene, and its role in the transfer of information in the cell. In the
1950s, James D. Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and Maurice
Wilkins were instrumental in solving DNA structure and suggesting its
relationship with the genetic transfer of information. In 1958, George
Beadle and Edward Tatum received the Nobel Prize for work in fungi
showing that one gene produces one enzyme. In 1988, Colin Pitchfork
was the first person convicted of murder with DNA evidence, which led
to the growth of forensic science. More recently, Andrew Z. Fire and
Craig C. Mello received the 2006 Nobel Prize for discovering the role of
RNA interference (RNAi) in the silencing of gene expression.
