IFIB – Interfakultäres Institut für Biochemie


History of biochemistry in Tübingen


The Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB) was formed after a reorganisation of the PCI in 2004.

Construction of the Physiologisch-chemischen Institut (PCI) on the Schnarrenberg

Günther Weitzel (1915-1984)

lipids, biochemical role of zinc, tumor-inhibiting substances structure-function relationship of insulin, insulin analogs created the 1st biochemistry degree in Germany in 1962

Adolf Friedrich Butenandt (1903-1995)

structure of estrone, progesterone and androsterone ommochrome, ecdyson, bombykol 1939 Nobel prize for his work on pheromones his role in Nazi Germany is debated; some claim he was considering experimenting on human livers, others refute this

Franz Knoop (1874-1946)

interconversion of amino acids and their respective keto acids ß-oxidation of fatty acid synthesis of citric acids from pyruvate and oxalacetate

Eduard Buchner (1860-1917)

accidental discovery of cell-free fermentation in 1896 1907 Nobel prize for the above

Hans Thierfelder (1858-1930)

mammalian life is possible without bacteria (sterile delivery of guinea pigs) extraction and separation of lipids from the brain discovery of glutamine in proteins and glucono delta-lactone

Construction of a new institute in Gmelinstraße

Carl Gustav Hüfner (1840-1908)

determination of the molecular weight, iron content, and maximal oxygen binding capacity of hemoglobin spectral analysis of blood detection of a carboxyl group in cholic acid

Friedrich Miescher (1844-1895)

discovery of DNA, then called nuclein/Nuklein, with Hoppe-Seyler in 1869 work on protamines and protein conversion in Basel

Felix Hoppe-Seyler (1825-1895)

named the blood pigment hemoglobin muscle contraction, rigor mortis, and lactic acid from glycogen oxidation and reduction enzymes ("Fermente") found that fatty acids have predominantly even numbers of carbon atoms

Julius Eugen Schloßberger (1819-1860)

creatine in the muscle of alligators iodide in corals, copper in hemocyanin (invertebrate hemoglobin-like molecule) analysis of rickety bones

Georg Carl Ludwig Sigwart (1784-1864)

analysis of mineral waters (Hohentübingen) composition of gall and urinary stones (Halle & Berlin 1810-1813) proteins of the blood acid indicators in autumn crocus (PhD in Tübingen 1808)

Labs in the kitchen of the castle Hohentübingen