19th Century
1836 – Theodor Schwann discovers pepsin
Jöns Jacob von Verzelius suspects there are catalysers for all life processes
Physician and biologist Theodor Schwann discovers pepsin, a companion substance to gastric acid in the stomach that can dissolve protein. That same year, Swedish scientists, Jöns Jacob von Verzelius suspects “that thousands of catalyzing processes take place between tissues and fluids in living plants and animals”.
1850 – Louis Pasteur carries out research on “ferments”
French chemist, Louis Pasteur researches the processes of rot and fermentation, which are important processes in tanning (making hide into leather) baking, food and brewing (the Pasteur family made their living from tanning). Pasteur demonstrates that these processes are caused by certain proteins that excrete living microorganisms. In early days, theses proteins were called “ferments”.
1897 – Willy Kühne coins the term “enzyme”
German physician Willy Kühne describes all biocatalyzers that modify proteins as enzymes. In 1897, the term is adopted by the general scientific community.
