The Natural Repertory of Prof. William Nelson

asic albuminous substance with an empirical formula C40H62N10O12; this
combined with many other formulas produced some of the basic proteins
of life.
In the 1890s, Emil Fischer, who was once a student of August Kekulé,
found that there were dextro and levo types of polymers. He was the first
to find that there was a chirality, or “handedness” to nature. He then
found that this “handedness” also applied to protein compounds.
In the 1850s, Thomas Graham found crystalloids and colloids, and
studied their functions. Colla came from the Greek for glue. Theodor
Svedberg contributed evidence to the theory that proteins were
homogenous. Using Avogadro’s number and the weight of the large
colloidal particles, he determined their diffusion rate and sedimentation
as a constant in the earth’s gravitational field, producing up to 500 times
the force of gravity. He then separated these colloidal factors, and helped
to further the concept of homogeneity.
By 1936, Linus Pauling and Alfred Mirsky put forth the idea that
polypeptide chains of native proteins could be folded and held together
between the N/h group and the oxygen atom of the C//O group of
peptide bonds. Many different scientists, including Corey and Perutz,
started working with these large chemicals and proposed some of the
different fashions which led to the discovery of the helix.
John Kendrew was the first to find the three-dimensional structure of
myoglobin which has an approximate molecular weight of 17,500. He
found that 75% of myoglobin has a helical polypeptide chain. Thus, the
helix was further brought into science.
The three-dimensional structure of insulin was discovered in 1969, by
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, working at Oxford University. Other bio-
molecules were found, such as cholesterol, calciferol, penicillin, and B-
12, using x-ray photographs of the diffusion patterns of the insulin
crystal. Dorothy Hodgkin was able to propose the structure of this very
complex molecule. Insulin was the first native protein to be synthesized.
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