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History of biochemistry.

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1 Department of Biochemistry, Armed Force Medical College, Pune.

Biochemistry in broad terms is the study of the chemical composition of the living matter and the
biochemical processes that underlie life activities during growth and maintenance. This article is an
attempt to explore the metamorphosis of biochemistry from a pupa entwined in its own cocoon to a
vibrantly colored phenomenon. Studies pertaining to this discipline of science began with
Biochemistry interfaces with biology and chemistry even before nineteenth century with studies
concerned with the chemical processes that take place within living cells. Modern biochemistry
developed out of and largely came to replace what in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
was called physiological chemistry, which dealt more with extra cellular chemistry, such as the
chemistry of digestion and of body fluids. The name Biochemistry was coined in 1903 by a German
chemist named Carl Neuber. However, work in this very living, aspect of chemistry had started
much earlier. Claude Bernard is accredited with the Sirehood of Biochemistry. During the later part
of the nineteenth century eminent scientists contributed a great deal to the elucidation of the
chemistry of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. At this period some very fundamental aspects of
enzymology were under close scrutiny. Study of nucleic acid is central to the knowledge of life but
its fusion with biochemistry started with works of Fredrick Sanger and Har Gobind Khurana. Their
experiments involved a subtle bland of enzymology and chemistry that few would have thought
possible to combine. The scientists were busy removing the mist that was mitigating the light of
knowledge but they still lacked an insight into the cell. In 1990's research turned to finding the
structural details of cell. The field of molecular biochemistry was also progressing at an almost
unstoppable speed having expanded its horizons beyond human imagination with the introduction
of PCR, creating waves of appreciation from every field of medicine and then coming out of the lab
to help establish better therapies for various diseases by introduction of gene therapy. Biochemistry
has promises to the world of science in development of new path-breaking research and coming
times would surely prove these promises to be fulfilled.

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What is Biochemistry | Its Scope & Importance in Medicine, Agriculture etc

The importance of biochemistry is immense and indispensable in our daily life activities. It is used in
clinical diagnosis, manufacture of various biological products, treatment of diseases, in nutrition,
agriculture, etc. The study of biochemistry helps one understand the actual chemical concepts of
biology. That is the functioning of various body processes and physiology by uses of bio-molecules.
Biochemistry is one of the branches of chemistry which deals with the chemical basis of life in
plants and animals. That is it is concerned about the internal chemistry of biological systems of
animals and plants. Since it is so vast and new phenomenon are discovered every year, it is taught
as a separate branch of biology. One can study biochemistry as a part of graduation or post
graduation like in medical biochemistry, forensic biochemistry, agriculture biochemistry, etc.

What is biochemistry
Biochemistry in general deals with body substance like enzymes, carbohydrates, amino acids, fats,
proteins, hormones, DNA, RNA, pigments, etc. It describes their origin, formation, function,
deficiency symptoms, etc. It tries to explain life in terms of biochemical reactions. One can
understand all the chemical reactions happening at the molecular level in a living cell or living being.
The role of biochemistry and its importance in various fields is as described below.

Importance of biochemistry in MEDICINE

Biochemistry is a valuable subject in medicine without which there would have been no such
advancement in the field.
Physiology: Biochemistry helps one understand the biochemical changes and related physiological
alteration in the body. Pathology of any disease is studied through biochemical changes.
Pathology: Based on the symptoms described by the patient, the physician can get a clue on the
biochemical change and the associated disorder. For example, if a patient complains about stiffness
in small joints, then the physician may predict it to be gout and get confirmed by evaluating uric acid
levels in the blood as uric acid accumulation in blood results in gout.
Nutrition deficiency: In the present scenario, many people rely on taking multivitamin & minerals for
better health. The function and role of the vitamin in the body are described only by biochemistry.
Hormonal deficiency: There are many disorders due to hormonal imbalance in especially women
and children. The formation, role of hormones in the normal body function is taught in biochemistry
by which the physician can understand the concerned problem during treatment.

Importance of biochemistry in NURSING

In nursing, the importance of clinical biochemistry is invaluable. When a patient is in the hospital
nurses, need to keep a watch on how his condition is progressing through clinical biochemistry.
That is the treatment for helping him recover from said condition etc. Almost all diseases or
disorders have some biochemical involvement. So the diagnosis of any clinical condition is easily
possible by biochemical estimations.What is Biochemistry
Kidney function test: For example in kidney disorders, other chemotherapy treatment, etc. urine test
help understand the extent of excretion of drugs or other metabolites, the change in pH, the color of
urine, etc.
Blood test: In diabetes, biochemical analytical test for blood glucose level (above 150mg/deciliter)
helps one understand the severity of diabetes disorder. Another biochemical analysis for ketones
bodies in urine also indicates the stage of diabetes. The appearance of ketone bodies or ketone
urea is mostly the last stage of diabetes.
Liver function tests help understand the type of disease or damage to the liver, the effect of any
medication on the liver, etc.
Serum cholesterol test: Evaluation of blood cholesterol level and other lipoproteins helps to
understand the proneness of the patient to cardiovascular diseases.
Thus the importance of clinical biochemistry is to help the nurse monitor the patient’s condition
regularly during the treatment.
Importance of biochemistry in AGRICULTURE
In agriculture, biochemistry plays a valuable role in farming, fishery, poultry, sericulture,
beekeeping, etc.
Prevent diseases: It helps for prevention, treatment of diseases and also increases the production
or yield.
Enhance growth: Biochemistry gives an idea of how the use of fertilizers can increase plant growth,
their yield, quality of food, etc.
Enhance Yield: Some hormones promote growth, while others encourage flowering, fruit formation,
etc. In fisheries, the use of substances to promote fish growth, their reproduction, etc. can be
understood.
Adulteration: Even the composition of food material produced, their alteration or adulteration for
example in honey can be found by biochemical tests. Biochemistry tests help prevent
contamination.
Biochemical tests for the pesticide residues or other toxic waste in plant, food grain and soil can be
evaluated. Hence during import and export of food grains, a biochemical check of the toxic residues
is done to fix the quality.
In animal husbandry, the quality of milk can be checked by biochemical tests. It also helps diagnose
any disease condition in animals and birds.
In fisheries, the water quality is regularly monitored by biochemical tests. Any drastic change in
water chemistry & composition of fishery ponds can lead to the vast death of fishes and prawns.
Hence the tests are done regularly to see salt content (calcium content), pH, accumulation of waste
due to not changing water for long, etc.

Importance of biochemistry in NUTRITION

In nutrition, biochemistry describes food chemistry. For maintenance of health, optimum intake of
many biochemicals like macro, micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids & water is
necessary.
Food chemistry gives an idea of what we eat, i.e., it’ s components like carbohydrates, proteins,
fats, etc. and also the possible physiological alteration due to their deficiency.
The role of nutrients: Due to biochemistry the importance of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids,
their contribution to health were known. Hence there is a frequent recommendation for inclusion of
crucial amino-acids, cod liver oil, salmon fish oil, etc. by physicians and other health and fitness
experts. The nutrients value of food material can also be determined by biochemical tests.
The physician can prescribe to limit usage of certain food like excess sugar for diabetics, excess oil
for heart & lung problem prone patients, etc. As these carbohydrate and fat diets can inhibit the
recovery rate from said disorder. This knowledge is due to their idea of food chemistry and related

Importance of biochemistry in PHARMACY

In a pharmacy, many drugs are stored for regular dispensing.
Drug Constitution: Biochemistry gives an idea of the constitution of the drug, its chances of
degradation with varying temperature, etc. How modification in medicinal chemistry helps improve
efficiency, minimize side effects, etc.
The half-life: This is a test done on biochemical drugs to know how long a drug is stable when kept
at so and so temperature.
Drug storage: The storage condition required can be estimated by the biochemical test. For
example many enzymes, hormones are stored for dispensing. These get deteriorated over time due
to temperature or oxidation, contamination and also due to improper storage.
Drug metabolism: It also gives an idea of how drug molecules are metabolized by many
biochemical reactions in the presence of enzymes. This helps to avoid drugs which have a poor
metabolism or those with excessive side effects from being prescribed or dispensed to the patient.
Biochemical tests: These tests help fix the specific half-life or date of expiry of drugs.
Importance of biochemistry in plants
Biochemistry of plants gave way to the breakthrough of how food is synthesized in them and the
reason why they are autotrophs, i.e., not dependent on other living beings for food. Biochemistry in
plants describes
1. Photosynthesis: This describes how carbohydrates are synthesized by the use of sunlight, CO2,
and water in the green leaves of plants. It goes on to explain about different complex enzymes
involved in the process to combine the energy of sun within the molecules H2O+ CO2 in the form of
carbohydrates.
2. Respiration: By use of the above photosynthesis pathway, plants leave out Oxygen while taking
up Carbon dioxide from the air. This air is used to generate energy in a cell like that of animal cells.
What is biochemistry of Energy production in cells.
3. Different sugars: Biochemistry defines different types of carbohydrates formed in plants like
trioses (3 carbon sugars, i.e., glyceraldehyde), tetroses (4), pentoses (5), hexoses (6= glucose),
heptoses (7), etc. Tetroses are the carbohydrates which go on to form the nucleic acids, i.e.,
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA).
4. Plants secondary metabolites: Biochemistry also describes how the plant products like gums,
tannins, alkaloids, resins, enzymes, phytohormones are formed inside the plant. Further, how the
different plant cell parts are involved in physiology. The conversion of different biochemical over
some time like lignin, chitin to harden the dead vascular vessels, etc.
5. Other functions: It also describes how plants fruits get ripened, how to plant seed germinates, the
respiration process inside the plant cell, how proteins and amino acids are formed on rough
endoplasmic reticulum and fats are formed on smooth ER.

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References: Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry