IFIB – Interfakultäres Institut für Biochemie

History

History of biochemistry in Tübingen

2016-2021
Construction of the new IFIB on the Campus Morgenstelle
2004

The Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB) was formed after a reorganisation of the PCI in 2004.

1959-1965
Construction of the Physiologisch-chemischen Institut (PCI) on the Schnarrenberg
1957
Günther Weitzel (1915-1984)

lipids, biochemical role of zinc, tumor-inhibiting substances

structure-function relationship of insulin, insulin analogs

created the 1st biochemistry degree in Germany in 1962

1945-1956
Adolf Friedrich Butenandt (1903-1995)

structure of estrone, progesterone and androsterone

ommochrome, ecdyson, bombykol

1939 Nobel prize for his work on pheromones

his role in Nazi Germany is debated;

some claim he was considering experimenting on human livers, others refute this

1928
Franz Knoop (1874-1946)

interconversion of amino acids and their respective keto acids

ß-oxidation of fatty acid

synthesis of citric acids from pyruvate and oxalacetate

1896-1898
Eduard Buchner (1860-1917)

accidental discovery of cell-free fermentation in 1896

1907 Nobel prize for the above

1909
Hans Thierfelder (1858-1930)

mammalian life is possible without bacteria (sterile delivery of guinea pigs)

extraction and separation of lipids from the brain

discovery of glutamine in proteins and glucono delta-lactone

1883-1885
Construction of a new institute in Gmelinstraße
1873-1885
Carl Gustav Hüfner (1840-1908)

determination of the molecular weight, iron content, and maximal oxygen binding capacity of hemoglobin

spectral analysis of blood

detection of a carboxyl group in cholic acid

1868-1869
Friedrich Miescher (1844-1895)

discovery of DNA, then called nuclein/Nuklein, with Hoppe-Seyler in 1869
Podcast zur Entdeckung der DNA

work on protamines and protein conversion in Basel

1861-1872
Felix Hoppe-Seyler (1825-1895)

named the blood pigment hemoglobin

muscle contraction, rigor mortis, and lactic acid from glycogen

oxidation and reduction enzymes ("Fermente")

found that fatty acids have predominantly even numbers of carbon atoms

1845
Julius Eugen Schloßberger (1819-1860)

creatine in the muscle of alligators

iodide in corals, copper in hemocyanin (invertebrate hemoglobin-like molecule)

analysis of rickety bones

1818
Georg Carl Ludwig Sigwart (1784-1864)

analysis of mineral waters (Hohentübingen)

composition of gall and urinary stones (Halle & Berlin 1810-1813)

proteins of the blood

acid indicators in autumn crocus (PhD in Tübingen 1808)

1818
Labs in the kitchen of the castle Hohentübingen