Otto Heinrich Warburg

Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883–1970) was a German biochemist who won the 1931 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the nature and mode of action of respiratory enzymes.

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Cellular respiration: The set of cellular reactions that extracts energy from molecules, often using oxygen. Warburg investigated how cells consume oxygen to release energy.
Emil Fischer: A German chemist who received the 1902 Nobel Prize for research on sugars and purines. Warburg completed his doctorate in chemistry under Fischer in Berlin.
Otto Meyerhof: A German physiologist who received the 1922 Nobel Prize for research on muscle metabolism. Meyerhof and Warburg studied related problems in cellular metabolism and energy conversion.
Warburg hypothesis: The proposal that defective cellular respiration is a primary cause of cancer. Warburg advanced this explanation of cancer, distinct from the metabolic effect later named for him.
Somatic mutation theory: The view that cancer arises through accumulated genetic mutations in somatic cells. It contrasts with Warburg’s claim that impaired respiration initiates cancer.
Respiratory enzymes: Enzymes that catalyze reactions involved in cellular oxygen consumption and energy metabolism. Their nature and action formed the subject of Warburg’s Nobel-recognized research.
Ludwig von Krehl: A German physician and physiologist known for work in clinical medicine and physiology. Warburg studied medicine in Heidelberg, where Krehl directed his medical training.
Hans Krebs: A German-born British biochemist who identified the citric acid cycle and received the 1953 Nobel Prize. Krebs extended the study of cellular oxidation that Warburg had advanced.
Cancer metabolism: The study of metabolic changes that support the growth and survival of cancer cells. Warburg’s claims about respiration continue to frame questions in this field.
Aerobic glycolysis: The conversion of glucose to lactate despite the presence of oxygen. This metabolic pattern is the Warburg effect, not proof of Warburg’s cancer-causation hypothesis.