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Biochemistry - Development of biochemistry

Biochemistry - Development of biochemistry: Encyclopedia II - Biochemistry - Development of biochemistry

Biochemistry: Encyclopedia II - Biochemistry - Development of biochemistry

Biochemistry - Development of biochemistry

Originally, it was generally believed that life was not subject to the laws of science the way nonlife was. It was thought that only living beings could produce the molecules of life (from other, previously existing biomolecules). Then, in 1828, Friedrich Wöhler published a paper about the synthesis of urea, proving that organic compounds can be created artificially. The dawn of biochemistry may have been the discovery of the first enzyme, diastase, in 1833 by Anselme Payen. It is generally accepted that the term biochemistry was coined in 1903 by Carl Neuber, a German chemist. Since then, biochemistry has advanced, especially since the mid-20th century, with the development of new techniques such as chromatography, X-ray diffraction, NMR, radioisotopic labelling, 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).

Today, the findings of biochemistry are used in many areas, from genetics to molecular biology and from agriculture to medicine. The first application of biochemistry was probably the making of bread using yeast, about 5000 years ago.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Development of biochemistry", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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