An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2024 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

16061 entries, 14144 authors and 1947 subjects. Updated: December 10, 2024

SUMNER, James Batcheller

1 entries
  • 14025

The isolation and crystallization of the enzyme urease.

J. Biol. Chem., 69, 435-441, 1926.

Sumner first isolated and crystallized an enzyme (urease) and proved that enzymes are proteins.
One month after publication of the above paper Sumner reinforced his discovery by recrystalizing urease, publishing a follow-up paper:
"Note. The recrystallization of urease," J. Biol. Chem., 70, 1926, 97-98.

In 1946 Sumner was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discovery that enzymes can be crystallized." The other half was awarded to John Howard Northrop and Wendell Meredith Stanley "for their preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form."

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for the follow-up reference.)




Subjects: BIOLOGY › MOLECULAR BIOLOGY › Protein Structure, BIOLOGY › MOLECULAR BIOLOGY › X-Ray Crystallography, NOBEL PRIZES › Nobel Prize in Chemistry (selected)