Kossel

KOSSEL Albrecht (Albrecht Kossel, 1853-1927), one of the foremost biochemists. He was (1877-81) an assistant to Hoppe-Seyler (F. Hoppe-Seyler) in Strasbourg; in 1883 he was invited to the physiological institute of Berlin University as head of the chemical department; in 1901 he moved to the chair of physiology at Heidelberg University. From 1923 K. worked at the protein research institute he founded in Heidelberg. Among his numerous works, the following should be particularly noted: 1. Research on the chemistry of cell nuclei. K. was the first to establish that purine bodies are formed in the organism not from proteins in general, but from nucleoproteins (see), pointed out the connection between the formation of uric acid in the organism and nucleoproteins, traced the course of the breakdown of nucleoproteins, and discovered and investigated several purine and pyrimidine bodies (adenine, thymine, cytosine, theophylline). 2. The study of protamines (see), which K. characterized as the simplest proteins. He isolated and investigated a long series of protamines from the milk of various fish, showed the close relationship between protamines and histones (see), and studied the breakdown of protamines under the influence of proteolytic enzymes. 3. Research on the structure of proteins. Here K. discovered a very interesting part of the protein molecule - histidine (see), developed practically important methods for obtaining, separating, and quantitatively determining hexonic bases (see), and carried out a number of quantitative determinations of the content of various groups in proteins. 4. The discovery and investigation of arginase, an enzyme found mainly in the liver and causing the breakdown of arginine coming from the intestine into ornithine and urea. K. was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1910. K.'s great scientific reputation and personal qualities attracted workers from various countries to his laboratory; many Russian scientists also worked under K.'s supervision. After the death of Hoppe-Seyler, K. was editor of Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. (Vol. XXI-CLXIX). To K.'s pen, besides numerous journal articles, belong several comprehensive surveys of various branches of biological chemistry in German, French, and English.