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42-604: The Colworth Medal is awarded annually by the Biochemical Society to an outstanding research biochemist under the age of 35 and working mainly in the United Kingdom . The award is one of the most prestigious recognitions for young scientists in the UK, and was established by Tony James FRS at Unilever Research and Henry Arnstein of the Biochemical Society and takes its name from a Unilever research laboratory near Bedford in

84-408: A "powerful" body whose activities went beyond the usual ones of a learned society to encompass "guarding the professional status, even welfare, of its members". In 1969, a subcommittee of the society chaired by Hans Krebs published a well-received report about the relationship between biochemistry and the discipline of molecular biology , stating that all biology was in part molecular, in response to

126-420: A "renowned" booklet by V. Booth with advice on how to write a scientific paper. Hans Krebs (biochemist) Sir Hans Adolf Krebs , FRS ( / k r ɛ b z , k r ɛ p s / , German: [hans ˈʔaːdɔlf ˈkʁeːps] ; 25 August 1900 – 22 November 1981) was a German-British biologist , physician and biochemist . He was a pioneer scientist in the study of cellular respiration ,

168-649: A 1968 report by the Working Group on Molecular Biology, chaired by John C. Kendrew . The report proposes using the term "biochemistry" as a shorthand to include molecular biology as well as biophysics. That year the society celebrated its 500th meeting, at which Kendrew was among the speakers. According to the former CEO Chris Kirk (in 2011), membership peaked in the mid-1990s at around nine thousand, and had since fallen. The society's first permanent headquarters were at 7 Warwick Court in Holborn , purchased in 1966. In 1990,

210-707: A Professor in 1945. During his time it became one of the leading departments of biochemistry in the world. Krebs took over the running of the Sorby Research Institute in 1943. In 1944, the British Medical Research Council established the MRC Unit for Cell Metabolism Research at Sheffield, and Krebs was appointed the Director. With this, his laboratory became so large that the locals jokingly nicknamed it "Krebs's Empire". He moved with his MRC unit to

252-429: A biochemical process in living cells that extracts energy from food and oxygen and makes it available to drive the processes of life. He is best known for his discoveries of two important sequences of chemical reactions that take place in the cells of nearly all organisms , including humans, other than anaerobic microorganisms, namely the citric acid cycle and the urea cycle . The former, often eponymously known as

294-571: A daughter, Helen (born 1942). John ( Sir John Krebs, and later Baron Krebs ) became a renowned ornithologist , Professor at the University of Oxford, Principal of Jesus College, Oxford , and Member of the British House of Lords . After a brief illness, Krebs died on 22 November 1981 in Oxford, aged 81. In 1932, Krebs worked out the outlines of the urea cycle with a medical student Kurt Henseleit at

336-628: A longer version titled "The Role of Citric Acid in Intermediate Metabolism in Animal Tissues", which he sent to the Dutch journal Enzymologia after two weeks and was published in two months. It was followed by a series of papers in different journals. Krebs continued to add more details to his citric acid cycle. The discovery of acetyl-CoA in 1947 by Fritz Albert Lipmann was another major contribution. However, this new discovery posed

378-856: A practising physician to becoming a medical researcher, particularly in biochemistry. In 1924, he studied at the Department of Chemistry at the Pathological Institute of the Charité Hospital, in Berlin , for training in chemistry and biochemistry. He earned his MD degree in 1925 from the University of Hamburg . In 1926, Krebs joined Otto Heinrich Warburg as a research assistant at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Dahlem, Berlin . He

420-403: A problem in his classic reaction. In 1957, he, with Hans Kornberg , found that there were additional crucial enzymes. One was malate synthase , which condenses acetate with glyoxylate to form malate, and the other was isocitrate lyase , which provides glyoxylate for the reaction by cleaving it from isocitrate. These two reactions did not follow the normal citric acid cycle, and hence the pathway

462-647: A thousand by 1944, and that year the society proposed the Biological Council, which formed an umbrella organisation for the Anatomical Society , Linnean Society , Pathological Society , Physiological Society and the Society for Experimental Biology . Plimmer was the society's first historian; his 1949 history is described by the American science historian Robert E. Kohler as an "important primary document" for

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504-667: Is a research centre covering interdisciplinary programmes in biochemical research. In 1990, the Federation of European Biochemical Societies instituted the Sir Hans Krebs Lecture and Medal , which was endowed by the Lord Rank Centre for Research. It is awarded for outstanding achievements in biochemistry and molecular biology. The Society of Friends of Hannover Medical School gives the Sir Hans Krebs Prize, which

546-641: Is now called the Krebs–Henseleit buffer.) In 1932, he published the basic chemical reactions of the urea cycle, which established his scientific reputation. Krebs's life as a respected German scientist came to an abrupt halt in 1933 because of his Jewish ancestry. With the rise of Hitler 's Nazi Party to power, Germany decreed the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , which decreed

588-561: The University of Freiburg . In 1923, he published his first scientific paper on a tissue staining technique . He did this work under the guidance of Wilhelm von Mollendorf starting it in 1920. He completed his medical course in December 1923. To obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree, and a medical license, he spent one year at the Third Medical Clinic in the University of Berlin . By then he had turned his professional goal from becoming

630-574: The University of Freiburg . While working at the Medical Clinic of the University of Freiburg, Krebs met Kurt Henseleit , with whom he investigated the chemical process of urea formation. In 1904, two Germans, A. Kossel and H. D. Dakin, had shown that arginine could be hydrolysed by the enzyme arginase to form ornithine and urea in inorganic reaction. Based on this reaction, Krebs and Henseleit postulated that in living cells, similar reaction could occur, and that ornithine and citrulline could be

672-919: The University of Oxford in 1954 as Whitley Professor of Biochemistry , the post he held until his retirement in 1967. The editorial board of Biochemical Journal extended their good wishes on his retirement, but in return he promised to keep them busy, by producing scientific papers. He continued his research, and took his MRC unit to the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the Radcliffe Infirmary , Oxford. From there he published over 100 research papers. Krebs met Margaret Cicely Fieldhouse (30 October 1913 – May 1993) when he moved to Sheffield in 1935. They married on 22 March 1938. Krebs later described his life in Sheffield as "19 happy years". They had two sons, Paul (born 1939) and John (born 1945), and

714-643: The University of Oxford . Krebs was born in Hildesheim , Germany, to Georg Krebs, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, and Alma Krebs (née Davidson). He was of Jewish ancestry and was the middle of three children. He had an elder sister, Elisabeth, and a younger brother, Wolfgang. Krebs attended school at the Gymnasium Andreanum in his home town. Near the end of World War I , in September 1918, six months short of completing his secondary school education, he

756-480: The " citric acid cycle ". It is also known as the "Krebs cycle" or " tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle". Krebs sent a short manuscript account of the discovery to Nature on 10 June 1937. On 14 June, he received a rejection letter from the editor, saying that the journal had "already sufficient letters to fill correspondence columns for seven or eight weeks", and encouraging Krebs to "submit it for early publication to another periodical." Krebs immediately prepared

798-681: The "Krebs cycle", is the sequence of metabolic reactions that allows cells of oxygen-respiring organisms to obtain far more ATP from the food they consume than anaerobic processes such as glycolysis can supply; and its discovery earned Krebs a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953. With Hans Kornberg , he also discovered the glyoxylate cycle , a slight variation of the citric acid cycle found in plants, bacteria , protists , and fungi. Krebs died in 1981 in Oxford , where he had spent 13 years of his career from 1954 until his retirement in 1967 at

840-563: The Sir Hans Krebs Trust, which provides funding for doctoral students in the biomedical field and support chemists who had to flee their home countries. The University of Oxford had a building named Hans Krebs Tower, which was occupied by the Department of Biochemistry. In 2008, a new building for the Department of Biochemistry was constructed, on which a plaque was placed on 20 May 2013 by the Association of Jewish Refugees . The plaque

882-578: The UK, Colworth House . The medal was first presented in 1963 and many of those receiving the award are recognised as outstanding scientists achieving international reputations. The lecture is published in Biochemical Society Transactions , previously Colworth Medal lectures were published in The Biochemical Journal . Source: Biochemical Society As of December 2023, the society had over 4,500 members, mainly in

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924-628: The UK. It is affiliated with the European body, Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). The president has been Julia Goodfellow since 2022. The Society's headquarters are in London. The society was founded in 1911, under the name of the Biochemical Club. An informal preliminary meeting on 21 January 1911 at University College, London was organised by John Addyman Gardner and R. H. A. Plimmer and attended by 32 people. The first meeting

966-414: The chemical reaction in glucose metabolism . Warburg had flatly rejected the idea. In Sheffield, Krebs vigorously worked to identify a possible chemical reaction and came up with numerous hypothetical pathways. Using the manometer he tested those hypotheses one by one. One hypothesis involving succinate , fumarate , and malate proved to be useful because all these molecules increased oxygen consumption in

1008-406: The early history of biochemistry in the UK, and in particular for why the society's founding members chose to separate from the older Physiological Society . An updated history was published in 1969 by Richard A. Morton . By the late 1960s, according to the American science historian Pnina Abir-Am, the society had established itself as a "well-organized nationwide power base for biochemists", and

1050-462: The end of 1911, there were 132 members. In 1912, it purchased the existing Biochemical Journal from Moore and Edward Whitley for £150, with the new editors being Bayliss and Harden. The name formally changed to the Biochemical Society in 1913, with Hopkins being appointed the first chair. Gardner took over as treasurer, remaining in the post until 1944, and was responsible for steering

1092-906: The headquarters of the society moved to Portland Place , and in 2005, to modern offices in Procter Street, Holborn. In 2009, the headquarters moved again to Charles Darwin House, Roger Street, sharing premises with the Society for Experimental Biology , British Ecological Society and the Royal Society of Biology . The society's past presidents are Sir Hans Kornberg (1990–95), Sir Philip Randle (1996–2000), Dame Jean O. Thomas (2001–5), Sir Philip Cohen (2006–8), Sir Tom Blundell (2009–12), Ron Laskey (2012–14), Sir David Baulcombe (2015–17) and Sir Peter Downes (2018–21). The Society has given awards to acknowledge excellence and achievement in biochemistry or in particular subfields since 1958. The earliest

1134-416: The intermediate reactions. Krebs started working on the possible method for the synthesis of arginine. Using his Warburg manometer, he mixed a slice of liver with purified ornithine and citrulline. He found that citrulline acted as a catalyst in the metabolic reactions of urea from ammonia and carbon dioxide . He and Henseleit published their discovery in 1932. Thus the urea cycle (or "ornithine cycle")

1176-419: The pigeon breast muscle. In 1937, German biochemists Franz Knoop and Carl Martinus had demonstrated a series of reactions using citrate that produced oxaloacetate . Krebs realised that these molecules could be the missing intermediates for such reaction. After four months of experimental works to fill in the gaps, Krebs and Johnson succeeded in establishing the sequence of the chemical cycle, which they called

1218-465: The removal of all non-Germans, and anti-Nazis, from professional occupations. Krebs received his official dismissal from his job in April 1933, and his service was terminated on 1 July 1933. An admirer, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins at the University of Cambridge , immediately came to his rescue, and persuaded the university to recruit Krebs to work with him in the Department of Biochemistry. By July 1933, he

1260-707: The same reason he was given the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1953. The Royal Society awarded him its Royal Medal in 1954, and Copley Medal in 1961. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957. In 1958, he received the Gold Medal of the Netherlands Society for Physics, Medical Science and Surgery. He was knighted in 1958 and was elected Honorary Fellow of Girton College , Cambridge University , in 1979. He

1302-472: The society's finances through the First World War. The three earliest women members, elected in 1913, were Ida Smedley , who became the first female chair of the society, Harriette Chick and Muriel Wheldale . In the early years eight annual meetings were generally held, predominantly in London, but also in Oxford, Cambridge, Rothamsted , Glasgow, Edinburgh and elsewhere. Membership had risen to over

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1344-527: Was conscripted into the Imperial German Army . He was allowed to take an emergency examination for his high school diploma, which he passed with such a high score that he suspected the examiners of being "unduly lenient and sympathetic". With the end of the war two months later, his conscription ended. Krebs decided to follow his father's profession and entered the University of Göttingen in December 1918 to study medicine. In 1919, he transferred to

1386-481: Was at liberty to do his own research. Before a year was over at Freiburg, he, with research student Kurt Henseleit , published their discovery of the ornithine cycle of urea synthesis, which is the metabolic pathway for urea formation. It is now known as the urea cycle , and is sometimes also referred to as the Krebs–Henseleit cycle. Together they also developed a complex aqueous solution (a buffer ), or perfusion ex vivo , for studying blood flow in arteries, which

1428-484: Was established, and it was the first metabolic cycle to be discovered. At the University of Sheffield , Krebs and William Arthur Johnson investigated cellular respiration by which oxygen was consumed to produce energy from the breakdown of glucose . Krebs had earlier suggested to Warburg while they worked together in Germany that by using a manometer it could be possible to detect the oxygen consumption and identify

1470-541: Was named the glyoxylate bypass of the citric acid cycle, but is now known as the glyoxylate cycle . Krebs became a naturalised British citizen in 1939. He was elected Fellow of Trinity College , Oxford, 1954–1967. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1947. In 1953, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his "discovery of the citric acid cycle." (He shared the Nobel Prize with Fritz Lipmann .) For

1512-458: Was on 4 March 1911, with 38 members present; an initial decision to exclude women was rescinded the following year. The first committee consisted of Plimmer (honorary treasurer and secretary), Gardner, H. E. Armstrong , W. M. Bayliss , A. J. Brown , H. H. Dale , A. E. Garrod , W. D. Halliburton , Arthur Harden , F. G. Hopkins , F. Keeble , Benjamin Moore , Walter Ramsden and E. J. Russell . By

1554-510: Was paid 4800 marks per year. After four years in 1930, with 16 publications to his credit, his mentor Warburg urged him to move on and he took up the position of Assistant in the Department of Medicine at the Municipal Hospital in Altona (now part of Hamburg ). The next year he moved to the Medical Clinic of the University of Freiburg . At Freiburg, he was in charge of about 40 patients, and

1596-571: Was settled in Cambridge with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation . Although Germany restricted him to bringing only his personal belongings, he was fortunate that the government agents allowed him to take his equipment and research samples to England. They proved to be pivotal to his later discoveries, especially the manometer developed by Warburg specifically for the measurement of oxygen consumption in thin slices of tissues; it

1638-867: Was the Hopkins Memorial Lecture, in memory of Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1958–2008). Later awards include the Colworth Medal (1963), the CIBA Medal/Novartis Medal (1965–2023) and the Morton Lecture, in honour of Richard Alan Morton (1978). The society's wholly owned publishing subsidiary, Portland Press (established in 1989 ), publishes a magazine, The Biochemist , and several academic journals: The society holds archives of material from some prominent biochemists, and had recorded oral history interviews on video with around twenty scientists in 1988. The society published several editions of

1680-632: Was the Original Member of the Society for General Microbiology , which conferred him Honorary Membership in 1980. He was also an elected member of both the American Philosophical Society and the United States National Academy of Sciences . He received an honorary doctorate from 21 universities. In July 2015, Krebs's Nobel Prize medal was auctioned off for £225,000 (around $ 351,225). The proceeds were used to found

1722-499: Was the basis for his research. He was appointed as Demonstrator in biochemistry in 1934, and in 1935 the University of Sheffield offered him a post of Lecturer in Pharmacology, with a more spacious laboratory and double the salary. He worked there for 19 years. The University of Sheffield opened a Department of Biochemistry, now Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, in 1938 and Krebs became its first Head, and eventually

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1764-706: Was unveiled by John, Lord Krebs, and the inscription reads: Professor Sir Hans Krebs FRS 1900 – 1981 Biochemist & discoverer of the Krebs cycle Nobel Prize Winner 1953 worked here 1954 – 1967 The Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University hosts the Sir Hans Krebs Prize Lecture Series. The last three recipients have been: Jeffrey Friedman M.D., PhD (2019) Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly MD FRS FMedSci (2022) and in 2023 - Professor Dame Frances Ashcroft FRS FMedSci The University of Sheffield has The Krebs Institute, founded in 1988. It

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