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1.1.2 History of Biochemisry
1.1.2 History of Biochemisry Important foundations were laid in many fields of biology during 17th and 18th centuries. The development of very crucial concepts, which include the cell theory by Schleiden and Schwann in 1833, Mendel’s study of inheritance in 1866 and The early part of 20th century witnessed a sudden increase in knowledge related to chemical analysis, separation methods and instrumentation for biological studies (X-ray diffraction, electron microscope etc.) which led to the understanding in structure and function of important molecules such as proteins, enzymes, DNA and RNA. In 1926 James Sumner established the protein nature of enzymes. The first metabolic pathway, glycolysis, was elucidated by Embden and Meyerhof.in1933. Otto Warberg, Cori and Parnas also made important contributions relating to glycolytic pathway. Citric acid and urea cycles were established by Krebs during 1930-40. The central role of ATP in biological systems was described by Lipmann in 1940. The The double-helical model of DNA was established by Watson and Crick in 1953. DNA polymerase was discovered by Kornberg in 1956. Frederick Sanger’s contributions in sequencing of protein in 1953 and nucleic acid in 1977 were responsible for further developments in the fields of protein and nucleic acids. The development of recombinant DNA research by Snell in 1980 led to the growth in the field of genetic engineering. Thus there is progressive evolution of biology to, biochemistry to molecular biology, genetic engineering and biotechnology. The research still grows. |