Biochemistry at Liverpool 1902-1971.

THIS paper begins by surveying the state of biochemical knowledge at the turn of the century. It then records how in 1902 the first British Chair of Biochemistry was founded. It goes on to describe some contributions to the subject made at Liverpool prior to the 1939-1945 war and notes that many of these advances were made by people trained in other disciplines. Finally some highlights from a steadily increasing post-war output of papers will be mentioned. This is not a record of uninterrupted success; there have been notable achievements and some failures. Major problems were tackled before an adequate scientific background existed or the necessary techniques had emerged. Erroneous received ideas imposed heavy constraints. The path of the pioneers was hard and if they did no more than clear the ground they deserved respect and sympathy. Biochemistry grows exponentially; with a doubling period of about fifteen years 95 per cent of the subject as we know it did not exist in 1900. Physiological chemistry in Germany had provided a firm base for a study of the roles of carbohydrate, fat and protein. Animals and men had been placed in respiration chambers so that oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide output could be measured. Respiratory quotients and calorific values had been obtained. Basal metabolism had been linked to body surface area and the specific dynamic action of food had been discovered. The application to patients of respiratory quotients and the measurement of basal metabolic rates in thyroid disfunction had opened a new chapter. In broad terms human requirements of nutrients were being established and the picture of the animal organism maintaining its body temperature and matching to its physical activity the utilization of energy from food was a challenge to the rising generation of biochemists. This challenge they accepted-as best they could; in fact not enough was known about the relevant organic chemistry. Emil Fischer's work reached fruition in the present century. In 1868 six aminoacids were known and by 1900 sixteen. Valine and proline were identified by Fischer in 1901 and Hopkins and Cole discovered tryptophan; methionine, threonine and thyroxine came much later. Detection of sugar in urine had been feasible for many years but insulin was not prepared until 1921 and purified much later. The significance of metabolic and biosynthetic pathways could be imagined but factual evidence was scarce. Chevreul had given to lipid chemistry a sound descriptive basis; lecithin was known but the distinction between it and kephalin was not made until 1913. Cholesterol had been obtained from gallstones and carotene also was known but the organic chemistry of plant and animal sterols and carotenoids began to be systematic only in the period 1923-33. The word hormone was introduced in 1902 by Bayliss