Article ID: CBB384618008

Lipids, Chloroform, and Their Intertwined Histories (2022)

unapi

Lipids and their fatty acid constituents, in particular, have been the subject of academic and industrial research initiatives since their isolation by Michel-Eugène Chevreul in 1813. Fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated, their physical properties depending on the aliphatic chain length and degree of saturation. They constitute the building blocks of many lipid groups, such as triglycerides and phospholipids; are key additives in commercial foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics; and can cross cell membranes. Chloroform was synthesized in 1831 by Samuel Guthrie and has had a tortuous history of interactions with mankind: from an anesthetic in obstetrics, dentistry, and surgery, to being labeled as a potential carcinogen in the 1970s. It has also had important nonmedical applications, such as in chemical engineering mass transfer systems designed to estimate binary gas diffusion coefficients. Although chemically dissimilar, lipids and chloroform intertwined their scientific paths through the work of Jordi Folch and associates in the 1940s-1950s, in which many lipid-based brain molecules were isolated and characterized. This article outlines the separate histories of lipids and chloroform, and those research initiatives in which they have acted synergistically. The narrative covers the interplay of chemical compounds with different historical backgrounds, but with physical properties which continue to foster their modern-day interaction.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB384618008/

Similar Citations

Book Reinhard W. Hoffmann; (2018)
Classical Methods in Structure Elucidation of Natural Products (/isis/citation/CBB052430520/)

Article Sourkes, Theodore L.; (2004)
The Discovery of Lecithin, the First Phospholipid (/isis/citation/CBB000740503/)

Article Mander, Lewis N.; Bennett, Martin A.; (2011)
Rodney Warren Rickards, 1934--2007 (/isis/citation/CBB001220651/)

Article Reynolds, Andrew; (2007)
The Cell's Journey: From Metaphorical to Literal Factory (/isis/citation/CBB001021848/)

Book Baudet, Jean; (2006)
La vie expliquée par la chimie: comment la biologie est devenue moléculaire (/isis/citation/CBB000720156/)

Article Travis, Anthony S.; (2008)
Models for Biomedical Research: The Theory and Practice of Paul Ehrlich (/isis/citation/CBB000931567/)

Article Adams, Martin R.; (2017)
The Birth of Modern Industrial Microbiology: The Acetone–Butanol Fermentation (/isis/citation/CBB803744469/)

Article Rein U. Kirss; (2013)
Fifty Years of Vaska's Compound (/isis/citation/CBB143722339/)

Article Bechtel, William; Abrahamsen, Adele; (2007)
In Search of Mitochondrial Mechanisms: Interfield Excursions between Cell Biology and Biochemistry (/isis/citation/CBB000771309/)

Book Galperin, Charles; Gilbert, Scott F.; Hoppe, Brigitte; (1999)
Fundamental Changes in Cellular Biology in the 20th Century: Biology of Development, Chemistry and Physics in the Life Sciences (/isis/citation/CBB000700922/)

Thesis Stadler, M; (cited 2010)
Assembling Life: Models, the Cell, and the Reformations of Biological Science, 1920--1960 (/isis/citation/CBB001567250/)

Article Subrata Dasgupta; (2023)
An intellectual history of P.C. Ray’s papers on the nitrites of mercury (/isis/citation/CBB130404884/)

Article Villani, Giovanni; (2014)
Structured System in Chemistry: Comparison with Mechanics and Biology (/isis/citation/CBB001420435/)

Chapter Kevin Fujitani; (2016)
A Child of Many Fathers: The Question of Credit for the Discovery of Thiamine, 1884-1936 (/isis/citation/CBB645381434/)

Article Alessandra Passariello; (2021)
Acidi nucleici, sì, ma quali? Jean Brachet e la spiegazione del differenziamento cellulare (/isis/citation/CBB433519130/)

Authors & Contributors
Abrahamsen, Adele
Baudet, Jean C.
Bechtel, William
Bennett, Martin A.
Frobert, Ludovic
Galperin, Charles
Journals
Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
Endeavour: Review of the Progress of Science
Foundations of Chemistry
Historical Records of Australian Science
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Indian Journal of History of Science
Publishers
Brepols
GNT
John Wiley & Sons
Vuibert
University of London, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (United Kingdom
Concepts
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Organic chemistry
Chemical compounds
Cellular biology
Biology
People
Brachet, Jean
Dalcq, Albert
Dumas, Jean Baptiste André
Ephrussi, Boris
Gobley, Nicolas-Theodoré
Hadorn, Ernst
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
21st century
18th century
20th century, late
Places
Great Britain
India
Australia
France
Germany
Institutions
Universität Bonn
Australian National University
Heidelberg Universität
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment