The chemical constitution of respiration ferment

O Warburg - Science, 1928 - science.org
O Warburg
Science, 1928science.org
FERMENTS are substances which effect chemical reaction in living matter. It is one of their
properties that they occur in living matter in extremely small concentration. It has not been
possible thus far to measure the amount of a ferment present anywhere. It is also one of their
properties that they are unstable. In all attempts to isolate the ferments they are usually
destroyed, and we have not yet suc-ceeded in the preparation of a pure ferment. Be-cause
of this it is not known how the ferments are chemically constituted, and hence it is not …
FERMENTS are substances which effect chemical reaction in living matter. It is one of their properties that they occur in living matter in extremely small concentration. It has not been possible thus far to measure the amount of a ferment present anywhere. It is also one of their properties that they are unstable. In all attempts to isolate the ferments they are usually destroyed, and we have not yet suc-ceeded in the preparation of a pure ferment. Be-cause of this it is not known how the ferments are chemically constituted, and hence it is not understood how chemical reactions occur in living matter. 1 Address before the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellsehaft on February 22, 1928. Published in Die Naturwissen-schaften, Vol. 16, p. 345, May18, 1928. Translated by Dr. WA Perlzweig, the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
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