Foreword 



IN 1897 Buchner published his classical study on alcoholic fermen- 

 tation by cell-free yeast juice. In the same year Eijkman con- 

 cluded that beri-beri among the natives of the Dutch East Indies 

 was caused by a dietary deficiency arising from the use of polished 

 rice. These two discoveries may be said to have initiated the modern 

 investigations in two of the most important fields of biochemistry 

 and medicine: the nature of the respiratory enzymes and the function 

 of the vitamins in cellular metabolism. 



For the next thirty years research workers in these two fields 

 pursued their investigation almost independently of one another and 

 more or less oblivious to the progress being made in the other's field. 

 Then in the early part of the last decade it was discovered that ribo- 

 flavin was the functional group in a respiratory enzyme and very 

 soon afterward this compound was shown to be vitamin Bg (G). 

 Further discoveries of a similar nature soon demonstrated that the 

 enzyme chemist and the nutritionist were to a great extent prospect- 

 ing the same territory. The time seemed to be ripe, therefore, for 

 the two groups to join in a discussion of the latest advances. Such 

 a meeting on the "Respiratory Enzymes and the Biological Action of 

 the Vitamins" was sponsored jointly by the Universities of Wisconsin 

 and Chicago, institutions that have long been leaders in these fields. 



This book contains the lectures and discussions given at the Uni- 

 versity of Wisconsin. It deals with the fundamental nature of those 

 enzymes that are intimately connected with the functioning of the 

 vitamins. Informative presentation of the latest developments, in- 

 terpretation of past and present findings, and indication of some of 

 the problems still unsolved in respiratory enzyme research are given 

 by recognized international authorities in the field. Supplementing 

 these explanations of the fundamental nature of respiratory enzymes 

 are discussions applying the findings to specific problems. 



The Program Committee wishes to thank the many members of 

 the faculty for their cooperation in arranging the meetings held at 

 the University of Wisconsin, the speakers for their papers and dis- 

 cussions, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for the 

 grant which made these sessions and the publication of the present 

 volume possible. 



