Knowra History of biochemistry History of biochemistry The development of the scientific study of chemical processes in living organisms, from early research on fermentation and metabolism to molecular biology.
Vitalism : The doctrine that living organisms depend on a life force distinct from physical and chemical processes. Its claims framed early disputes over whether chemical explanations could account for life.
Enzyme : A biological catalyst, usually a protein, that accelerates a specific chemical reaction without being consumed. Enzyme research turned biological transformations into experimentally tractable chemical reactions.
Organic chemistry : The study of the structure, properties, reactions, and synthesis of carbon-containing compounds. Its methods supplied the chemical foundation for analyzing molecules from living organisms.
Nucleic acid : A polymer of nucleotides that stores, transmits, or helps express genetic information. Research on nucleic acids brought heredity within the scope of chemical structure and reactions.
Clinical biochemistry : The analysis of biochemical substances in body fluids and tissues to support diagnosis and monitoring of disease. It applies biochemical measurements to routine investigation of human health.
Urea synthesis : Friedrich Wöhler’s 1828 preparation of urea from inorganic compounds, challenging the boundary between organic and inorganic chemistry. The synthesis undermined vitalism and helped establish organic chemistry’s relevance to living substances.
Enzyme kinetics : The quantitative study of the rates of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and how conditions affect them. Kinetic measurements made enzyme action precise enough to compare and model.
Protein : A macromolecule made of amino acids that performs structural, catalytic, regulatory, and other functions in organisms. Identifying proteins as specific chemical substances opened the way to studying enzymes and cellular machinery.
DNA : The molecule that carries hereditary information in most organisms, encoded in sequences of nucleotide bases. Its structure linked chemical composition to the mechanism of biological inheritance.
Insulin : A peptide hormone that regulates blood glucose by promoting its uptake and storage. Its isolation and production illustrate how biochemical research became a treatment for diabetes.
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