Editing Biochemistry (section)

==History==
{{Main| History of biochemistry}}
[[File:Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori (1896-1957) and Carl Ferdinand Cori - restoration1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gerty Cori]] and [[Carl Cori]] jointly won the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize]] in 1947 for their discovery of the [[Cori cycle]] at RPMI.]]

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 Greece|ancient Greeks]].<ref name="history of science">[[#Helvoort|Helvoort]] (2000), p. 81.</ref> 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]],<ref>[[#Hunter|Hunter]] (2000), p. 75.</ref> while others considered [[Eduard Buchner]]'s first demonstration of a complex biochemical process [[Ethanol fermentation|alcoholic fermentation]] in cell-free extracts in 1897 to be the birth of biochemistry.<ref>[[#Hamblin|Hamblin]] (2005), p. 26.</ref><ref>[[#Hunter|Hunter]] (2000), pp. 96–98.</ref>  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,<ref name="history of science" /> or even earlier to the 18th century studies on [[fermentation]] and [[Cellular respiration|respiration]] by [[Antoine Lavoisier]].<ref>[[#Berg|Berg]] (1980), pp. 1–2.</ref><ref>[[#Holmes|Holmes]] (1987), p. xv.</ref> Many other pioneers in the field who helped to uncover the layers of complexity of biochemistry have been proclaimed founders of modern biochemistry. [[Hermann Emil Fischer|Emil Fischer]], who studied the chemistry of [[proteins]],<ref>[[#Feldman|Feldman]] (2001), p. 206.</ref> and [[Frederick Gowland Hopkins|F. Gowland Hopkins]], who studied [[enzymes]] and the dynamic nature of biochemistry, represent two examples of early biochemists.<ref>[[#Rayner|Rayner-Canham]] (2005), p. 136.</ref>

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 ({{Lang|de|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.<ref>[[#Ziesak|Ziesak]] (1999), p. 169.</ref><ref>[[#Kleinkauf|Kleinkauf]] (1988), p. 116.</ref> The German [[chemist]] [[Carl Neuberg]] however is often cited to have coined the word in 1903,<ref name="Ben-Menahem 2009">[[#Ben|Ben-Menahem]] (2009), p. 2982.</ref><ref>[[#Amsler|Amsler]] (1986), p. 55.</ref><ref>[[#Horton|Horton]] (2013), p. 36.</ref> while some credited it to [[Franz Hofmeister]].<ref>[[#Kleinkauf|Kleinkauf]] (1988), p. 43.</ref>

[[File:DNA orbit animated.gif|thumb|left|upright|DNA structure ({{PDB2|1D65}})<ref>[[#Edwards|Edwards]] (1992), pp. 1161–1173.</ref>]]
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.<ref>[[#Fiske|Fiske]] (1890), pp. 419–20.</ref> In 1828, [[Friedrich Wöhler]] published a paper on his [[serendipitous]] [[urea]] [[Wöhler synthesis|synthesis]] from [[potassium cyanate]] and [[ammonium sulfate]]; some regarded that as a direct overthrow of vitalism and the establishment of [[organic chemistry]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wöhler|first=F.|date=1828|title=Ueber künstliche Bildung des Harnstoffs|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/andp.18280880206|journal=Annalen der Physik und Chemie|volume=88|issue=2|pages=253–256|doi=10.1002/andp.18280880206|bibcode=1828AnP....88..253W|issn=0003-3804|access-date=2021-05-04|archive-date=2023-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028023623/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/andp.18280880206|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kauffman 20012">[[#Kauffman|Kauffman]] (2001), pp. 121–133.</ref>  However, the Wöhler synthesis has sparked controversy as some reject the death of vitalism at his hands.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lipman|first=Timothy O.|date=August 1964|title=Wohler's preparation of urea and the fate of vitalism|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed041p452|journal=Journal of Chemical Education|volume=41|issue=8|pages=452|doi=10.1021/ed041p452|bibcode=1964JChEd..41..452L|issn=0021-9584|access-date=2021-05-04|archive-date=2023-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028023621/https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed041p452|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>  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]], [[protein nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy|NMR spectroscopy]], [[radioisotopic labeling]], [[electron microscope|electron microscopy]] and [[molecular dynamics]] simulations. These techniques allowed for the discovery and detailed analysis of many molecules and [[metabolic pathway]]s of the [[cell (biology)|cell]], such as [[glycolysis]] and the [[Krebs cycle]] (citric acid cycle), and led to an understanding of biochemistry on a molecular level.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

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.<ref>[[#Tropp|Tropp]] (2012), pp. 19–20.</ref> In 1958, [[George Beadle]] and [[Edward Tatum]] received the [[Nobel Prize]] for work in fungi showing that [[one gene-one enzyme hypothesis|one gene produces one enzyme]].<ref name="Krebs 2012">[[#Krebs|Krebs]] (2012), p. 32.</ref> In 1988, [[Colin Pitchfork]] was the first person convicted of murder with [[DNA]] evidence, which led to the growth of [[forensic science]].<ref name="Butler 2009">[[#Butler|Butler]] (2009), p. 5.</ref> More recently, [[Andrew Z. Fire]] and [[Craig C. Mello]] received the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|2006 Nobel Prize]] for discovering the role of [[RNA interference]] (RNAi) in the silencing of [[gene expression]].<ref name="Sen 2007">[[#Chandan|Chandan]] (2007), pp. 193–194.</ref>