PROBLEMS OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY 



CARL F. CORI, Department of Biological Chemistry, Washington 

 University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 



If the present era of biochemistry needs a general charac- 

 terization, it might be said that the central problems are those 

 concerned with enzyme action. The reason for this is based on 

 the recognition, in the last fifty years, that most of the chemical 

 reactions which occur in living organisms are enzyme-catalyzed 

 and that synthesis and degradation of organic molecules gen- 

 erally involve a series of enzymes acting in sequence. From this 

 would follow the present trend of obtaining as much relevant 

 information as possible about each enzymatic reaction a par- 

 ticular organism or tissue is capable of carrying out. When one 

 considers the whole array of living forms and the great diversity 

 of organic molecules which occur in nature, it seems clear that 

 work along these lines will progress actively for a long time to 

 come, subject only to the limitation of available methods. 



The level of significance, the depth to which one can 

 penetrate into a problem, is severely limited by methods. It can 

 be clearly seen how recent methodological advances have led to 

 solutions of problems which were previously unattainable. 

 Among others, the use of isotopes, of chromatography, and of 

 precision instruments for physical measurements come to mind. 



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