The Nobel Prize
in Chemistry 1907The Nobel Prize
in Chemistry 1907Presentation Speech by Professor the Count K.A.H. Mörner, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, on December 10, 1907*
This year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to
Professor Eduard Buchner for his work on fermentation.
For a very long time both chemists and biologists have always regarded it as
a particularly significant achievement when it has been possible to open up
for chemical research a new field of the chemical processes which take place
in living organisms. Through every step in this direction the puzzling aspect
of the life processes diminishes, while on the other hand chemical laws are
given a wider application. The farther the field of research in such a direction
is extended the narrower becomes the territory at whose limit one must remain,
since, as it used to be said, phenomena in such territory were governed by special
laws not yet available to us and controlled by a particular kind of so-called
"life force".
For a long time far-seeing research workers in the field of chemistry have opposed
the idea that chemical processes in the living being occupy such an exceptional
position and have therefore given their full recognition to such works as in
their view offered direct support to their views.
In this connection we in Sweden feel bound to draw attention to the statements
made by Berzelius. Apart from his creative activity in general chemistry, Berzelius
was actively interested in the chemical processes in animal and plant organisms.
With regard to these he held the view that they were more complicated and more
difficult to learn than chemical reactions which take place independently of
the living being. In no way, however, could he associate himself with the view
generally held at that time that their nature was different and that they must
follow quite different laws from the latter.
Berzelius also had a predilection for taking part in work in this field of chemistry,
when he could find time. He set great store by pertinent achievements of others.
As an example of this, I recall Berzelius' reply to Wohler when the latter mentioned
his discouragement at having missed the discovery of the element vanadium, a
discovery he was close to, but did rt succeed in making, because he did not
complete the work he had started. Berzelius consoled him with friendly words.
At the same time he pointed to Wohler's merit on the explanation of the formation
of organic substances, which was then just commencing. Referring to a paper
by Wohler and Liebig which had just appeared concerning cyanic acid and urea,
Berzelius said that anyone who had produced such work could very well forgo
discovering an element. One could, writes Berzelius, have discovered ten unknown
elements without needing as much genius as for the work just referred to.
Since 1813, when this was written, this field has been extended enormously in
many directions; it has been found possible to lift the veil which hitherto
covered the phenomena of organic life. Thus a very large number of substances,
which at the time in question it was assumed could only be formed by living
organisms, can now be prepared synthetically. When, however, it is a matter
of the inner course during the formation and conversion of these substances
in living beings, we have to admit that our knowledge is still very far from
complete. To be sure, it is no longer said that the living being is governed
by a special "life force", but very often we have to make do even today with
another expression which, in its actual meaning, does not differ very much from
the first. It is frequently said now that this or that process should be regarded
as a "life phenomenon" or "life expression" in certain cells. Regrettably we
have to recognize that in this we are to a great extent merely providing a word
instead of a deeper insight. It is certainly true that the frontier territories
in which chemical research is now struggling to penetrate the complicated, mystic
phenomena of life have in many respects advanced far beyond where it stood in
1813. Meanwhile, it still remains a fact that we owe considerable unconditional
recognition to a work which in this field has taken experimental chemical research
a sure step farther.
This is applicable to the work which is now the subject of the Prize award.
In a few words I shall try to explain to you what it is about.
For a long time chemists have been paying great attention to the phenomena which
we now call fermentation. Under this name we include a number of chemical processes
which occur in living beings and for which they are of the greatest importance.
Usually these are decomposition processes in which compound substances are split
under the influence of agents which we call ferments. These ferments act, so
to speak, by their mere presence. Without being themselves transformed, they
cause certain definite changes in other substances, the effect of each ferment
being limited to a certain substance or a certain group of substances. It is
an important property of ferments that, precisely under such circumstances as
obtain in living beings, they exert a powerful action, whilst under others they
frequently and easily become ineffective. Since, on the other hand, by means
of other chemical aids, chemical processes can be brought about which
appear similar to the actions of the ferments-several examples of which are
available-it often happens that for this purpose agents are necessary whose
nature makes them quite foreign to, and often incompatible with, conditions
in living beings.
In very recent times, particularly, the advancement of our knowledge has made
it probable that there are processes which are fermentative to a particularly
high degree, which bring about the conversion of substances in living beings
and which thus control this condition of life. Just as chemical science has
during the past century acquired an extensive knowledge of the composition and
structure of organic substances, so a thorough knowledge of the nature and action
of ferments is now essential, in order that this science may be in a position
to master the laws of the formation and dissociation of substances within the
organism.
Meanwhile, we know these ferments up to now only by the effects they produce.
Their inner nature and the constitution of their substance are still unknown
to us. It is to be hoped, however, that a solution to this puzzle may be the
subject of a future Nobel Prize.
A number of fermentations have been readily observable. This relates, for example,
to the ferments which occur in dissolved state in the secretions which are discharged
into the digestive system and exert such a greatinfluence there. It has thus
been possible to gain very considerable experimental experience concerning these
fermentations.
Another group of fermentations, however, had been seen to occur only
in the presence of living cells. To this group belonged, among others, the decompOsition
of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, under the action of ordinary yeast.
The connection between this fermentation and the presence of live yeast cells
appeared so irresolvable that this fermentation process was regarded as an "expression
of life" by the cells. This process thus appeared to be inaccessible to more
detailed research.
Through Pasteur this view was accepted and generally adopted in scientific circles.
The unforgettable service done by Pasteur is that he showed that there are living
organisms which are the originators of putrefaction and fermentation and of
a number of processes which are of very great significance. Pasteur, who was
distinguished not only by the genius of his ideas but also by an eminent talent
as an experimenter, also tried - particularly as regards ordinary alcohol fermentation
- to investigate the intrinsic interrelationship in this process. In particular
he tried to answer the question whether the fermentation of alcohol was due
primarily to a ferment produced by the yeast cells, in which case this ferment
must be separated from them and be able to work independently of the presence
of live yeast cells. His experiments, however, like those of others, concerning
the occurrence of such a soluble ferment gave a negative result. Pasteur's view
was thus considered to be confirmed, namely that the chemical process in alcoholic
fermentation was a life expression by the yeast cells, and was thus inextricably
linked with their life. This view prevailed for several decades.
At the same time as Pasteur earned for himself undying fame by his brilliant
exposition of the significance of living beings as the ultimate cause of such
processes, he put a brake on the progress of science in this field by the vitalistic
concept of the actual course of fermentation. So long as fermentation was regarded
as an "expression of life", and hence a phenomenon inseparable from life, there
was little hope of being able to penetrate more deeply into the question of
its course. It should be noted that this was of all the greater importance as
it concerned not only alcoholic fermentation but a large group of important
processes.
Under these circumstances it can easily be understood that a great sensation
was created when E. Buchner, after many years' work, succeeded in showing that
alcoholic fermentation could be produced from the juices expressed from yeast
cells, free from live cells. He demonstrated incontrovertibly that this fermentation
was due to a ferment produced by the yeast cells, from which it can tee separated.
Fermen tion is not a direct expression of life by yeast cells; the cells can
be killed and destroyed, while the ferment remains.
By Buchner's work, the fermentation mentioned and various other processes analogous
to it have been freed from the shackles which previously held them and which
prevented any progress in research. Now, no special difficulty is encountered
in obtaining from yeast cells and various other cells an ample amount of powerfully
active cell substance which is free from live cells. Numerous clarifying investigations
into its properties have also been made, partly by Buchner himself and partly
by others. Hitherto inaccessible territories have now been brought into the
field of chemical research, and vast new prospects have now been opened up to
chemical science.
* Owing to the decease of King Oscar II two days earlier, the presentation ceremony had to be cancelled. The speech, of which the text is rendered here, was therefore not delivered orally.
From Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1966