Eduard Buchner was a German chemist and a zymologist who won the 1907
Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Born into an educationally distinguished
family, he lost his father when he was barely eleven years old. His
elder brother, Hans Buchner, helped him to get good education. However,
financial crisis forced Eduard to give up his studies for a temporary
phase and he spent this period working in preserving and canning
factory. Later, he resumed his education under well-known scientists and
very soon received his doctorate degree. He then began working on
chemical fermentation. However, his experience at the canning factory
did not really go waste. Many years later while working with his brother
at the Hygiene Institute at Munich he remembered how juices were
preserved by adding sugar to it and so to preserve the protein extract
from the yeast cells, he added a concentrated doze of sucrose to it.
What followed is history. Sugar in the presence of enzymes in the yeast
broke into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Later he identified the enzyme as
zymase. This chance discovery not only brought him Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, but also brought about a revolution in the field of
biochemistry.
Childhood & Early Years
Eduard
Buchner was born on May 20, 1860, in Munich, into a well-known Bavarian
family. His father, Ernst Buchner, was the Professor Extraordinary of
Forensic Medicine and Obstetrics. In addition, he was also the editor of
the Ärztliches Intelligenzblatt (later Münchener medizinische
Wochenschrift). His mother’s name was Friederike née Martin.
Eduard’s
elder brother, Hans Ernst August Buchner, was ten years senior to him.
He grew up to be a well-known bacteriologist and a pioneer in the field
of immunology. He not only supported Eduard’s education after their
father’s death in 1872, but also assisted him in his works in later
years.
Major Works
Eduard
Buchner is best remembered for his discovery of zymase, an enzyme
mixture that promotes cell free fermentation. However, it was a chance
discovery. He was then working in his brother’s laboratory in Munich
trying to produce yeast cell free extracts, which the latter wanted to
use in an application for immunology.
To
preserve the protein in the yeast cells, Eduard Buchner added
concentrated sucrose to it. Bubbles began to form soon enough. He
realized that presence of enzymes in the yeast has broken down sugar
into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Later, he identified this enzyme as
zymase and showed that it can be extracted from yeast cells. This single
discovery laid the foundation of modern biochemistry.
Awards & Achievements
In
1907, Eduard Buchner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his
biochemical researches and his discovery of cell-free fermentation".
He was elected as the President of the German Chemical Society in 1904-1905.
