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Article: History of Biology: Biochemistry
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History of Biology: Biochemistry
Biochemistry as a recognizably distinct discipline emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century. Initially it focused on the chemical changes of cellular
metabolism
.
Roots of Biochemistry
Biochemistry had its roots in nineteenth-century physiological chemistry, animal chemistry, and the chemistry of biological materials. The earliest
views on the chemistry of life posited that it was fundamentally different from nonliving chemistry. From around 1835, the view had developed that
protoplasm
, seen as a jellylike single homogeneous form of matter within organisms, carried out all the processes of
intracellular
breakdown of foods, respiration, ...