Milestones of biochemistry
A short timeline of the discoveries that turned the chemistry of life into a medical science.
Key facts
- 1828: Wöhler made urea from inorganic material, showing that the molecules of living things obey ordinary chemistry.
- 1897: Buchner showed that a cell-free yeast extract can ferment sugar: enzymes work outside the cell (Nobel Prize 1907).
- 1908: Garrod described «inborn errors of metabolism», starting with alkaptonuria: one gene, one enzyme, one disease.
- 1926: Sumner crystallised urease and showed that an enzyme is a protein (Nobel Prize 1946).
- 1937: Krebs described the citric acid cycle (Nobel Prize 1953).
- 1953: Watson and Crick proposed the double helix of DNA, using Franklin's and Wilkins's X-ray data (Nobel Prize 1962).
In detail
- 1955: Sanger completed the amino-acid sequence of insulin, the first protein sequence (Nobel Prize 1958); he later developed DNA sequencing.
- 1921–1922: Banting, Best, Collip and Macleod isolated insulin and treated the first patients with diabetes.
- 1960s–1970s: the genetic code was read, and Mitchell's chemiosmotic theory explained how mitochondria make ATP.
- 1983: Mullis devised the polymerase chain reaction (Nobel Prize 1993).
- 2003: the Human Genome Project completed the reference sequence of the human genome.
- Also called
- History of biochemistry
Clinical notes
- Garrod's idea that a missing enzyme causes disease is the basis of newborn screening and of every inborn error page on this site.
- Insulin was the first hormone used as a drug and the first human protein made by recombinant DNA.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
What did Buchner's experiment with yeast extract show?
That fermentation does not need living cells: enzymes in a cell-free extract can carry it out.
What was Garrod's contribution to medicine?
He described inborn errors of metabolism, showing that an inherited enzyme defect causes a disease, starting with alkaptonuria.
Which protein was the first to be sequenced, and by whom?
Insulin, by Frederick Sanger, in 1955.
Connections
Educational information, not medical advice. For any symptom, see a health professional.
Sources: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1907 (NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2026); The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1946 (NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2026); The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1958 (NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2026); The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1953 (NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2026); The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 (NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2026); The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1993 (NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2026).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.