Albrecht Kossel, A Biographical Sketch **

Modern knowledge of protein chemistry rests firmly on a number of fundamental discoveries extending back to the time of Beccarius and Scheele. Although it has been two hundred and twenty years since Beccarius isolated gluten from wheat, factual knowledge of proteins has accumulated with great rapidity only during the last century. It may be noted that the impetus was not only the increasing general interest in science, but in part a recognition of the need for a new division of scientific learning, biochemistry. This daughter-science of chemistry and physiology has gained its recognized place through the efforts of many, among whom Hoppe-Seyler and Albrecht Kossel were pioneers. Kossel was convinced of the necessity of relating chemical constitution to biological function. His particular field was the study of the nucleus of the cell, and he contributed much to advance early knowledge of the nucleic acids and two classes of proteins, the protamines and the histones. They formed his main scientific interests, and in order to characterize them he was led to a quantitative study of their composition and especially to the chemistry of the basic amino acids which are their principal constituents. Kossel'st life and work were harmonious and his personality well fitted for scientific research. He was born on September 16, 1853 in the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, the son of Clare and Albrecht Kossel. His father was a merchant, bank-director, and Prussian Consul in this Baltic seaport.""5 The family was a large one of nine children: seven sisters and a brother, Hermann,4 who was eleven years younger than Albrecht. The