The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1989

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1989

The history of biocatalysis
1835	The Swede Jöns Jacob Berzelius describes a catalyst as a substance which can breathe life into slumbering chemical reactions.
1868	Friedrich Miescher, Switzerland isolates nucleic acids from white blood cells obtained from discarded bandages.
1877	Wilhelm Kuhne, Germany introduces the term "enzyme" and distinguishes between enzymes and bacteria.
1893	Wilhelm Ostwald, Latvia classifies enzymes as catalysts.
1926	James Sumner, USA (Nobel Prize 1946) crystallizes the enzyme urease and demonstrates that it is a protein.
1940	Torbjörn Caspersson, Sweden and Jean Brachet, Belgium predict that ribonucleic acids (RNA) are required in order for the cell to make proteins.
1940	George Beadle* and Edward Tatum, USA advance the hypothesis "one gene – one enzyme". Nobel Prize 1958.
1944	Oswald Avery and coworkers in the United States demonstrate that the genetic material is composed of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
1953	James Watson, USA and Francis Crick*, England demonstrate that the DNA molecule is composed of a double helix. Nobel Prize 1962.
1960	Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner, England and François Jacob* and Jaques Monod, France propose how RNA is used in order for cells to make proteins using information from DNA. Nobel Prize 1965.
1961-65	Work in the United States by Marshall Nirenberg, Johann Matthaei, Gobind Khorana, Severo Ochoa** (Nobel Prize 1959) and their coworkers leads the way to the deciphering of the genetic code. * Nobel Prize 1968.
1977	It is demonstrated in several laboratories that RNA molecules must often be cut and rejoined before they can be used, e.g., to make proteins.
1982	Thomas Cech (Nobel Prize 1989) discovers that an RNA molecule can cut itself and rejoin the loose ends without the presence of an enzyme protein.
1983	Sidney Altman (Nobel Prize 1989) shows that an RNA molecule can possess all the properties of an enzyme.

Contents:
Introduction » The chemistry of life and its central dogma » Enzymes – biological catalysts » Ribonucleic acid (RNA) – the biomolecule which can do it all » The history of biocatalysis » What happens next? » Further reading »
Based on materials from the 1989 Nobel Poster for Chemistry. Credits and references for the poster »

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