For the Love of Enzymes: The Odyssey of a Biochemist

by Arthur Kornberg

In 1645 the Japanese samurai Musashi Miamoto wrote A Book of Five Rings , which described the attitudes necessary for individual success. Though he was a swordsman, his book was not limited to combat but addressed the much broader question of how to achieve excellence in life through study, discipline, and planning. It is still avidly read in Japan today. Arthur Kornberg’s book is a modern-day Book of Five Rings that replaces the medium of swordsmanship with that of biochemistry, particularly enzymology. As Kornberg describes his successive research problems, the challenges they presented, and the ultimate accomplishments that resulted, he provides us with a primer in the strategies needed to do scientific work of great significance. Moreover, these strategies are played out in the context of solving some of the great biochemical problems of the twentieth century.

The ability to manipulate and alter DNA fired a revolution that forever changed the nature of biology. Arthur Kornberg is a primary architect of that revolution, arguably one of the two or three most important biologists of this time. Prior to Kornberg, genetic information and later DNA were imbued by biologists with an almost vitalistic aura. Kornberg demonstrated that DNA is a molecule synthesized by enzymes, like all other chemical constituents of the cell. More important, he trained a school of scientists who focused on and discovered many of the enzymatic activities that act on DNA. It is these enzymes in particular that allow modern “genetic engineering.”

For the Love of Enzymes does not describe a single lucky or hard-won accomplishment. Rather, it is the story of thirty years of decisive campaigns, nearly all of which led to insights of major significance. In relating his story, Kornberg never avoids the difficult question of “why”: why he felt classical nutritional studies had reached a plateau, why he turned to enzymology as a discipline in which the important answers would be found, and why he believes the study of enzymes will grow ever more important as we face the new scientific frontier of brain function.

This book will challenge students of biology and chemistry at all levels who want to do important work rather than simply follow popular trends. It will also delight and inform readers who wish to understand how “real” science is done, and to learn of the values that guide one of our greatest researchers.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Biography, Biology

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 1989

About the author

Arthur Kornberg was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1959 for his discovery of "the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)" together with Dr. Severo Ochoa of New York University. He was also awarded the Paul-Lewis Award in Enzyme Chemistry from the American Chemical Society in 1951, L.H.D. degree from Yeshiva University in 1962, as well as National Medal of Science in 1979. In 1991, Kornberg received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement[3] and the Gairdner Foundation Award in 1995.

His primary research interests were in biochemistry, especially enzyme chemistry, deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis (DNA replication) and studying the nucleic acids which control heredity in animals, plants, bacteria and viruses.

(Source: en.wikipedia.org)

Reviews

[Jose A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading about Arthur Kornberg's journey in science going from vitamin hunting to vitamin synthesis to nucleotide synthesis to DNA synthesis. Can't imagine the kg scale preps of E. coli follwing the activity. Enjoyed reading about biochemists contributions to the development of molecular biology, which is oftentimes overlooked. I didn't know the story of Peter Loban (Dale Kaiser's lab) taking his PhD original proposal requirement on DNA recombining DNA to reality.

[Aaron Jesse O'Hare-Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in biochemistry; the work described is excellent and foundational. Its flaws are only those common to the autobiographies of modern scientists, and at its best it does an engaging job of telling the story of his discoveries.

[Harshith Gowda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, superb book!!!

[Al Culbertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I share a love of enzymes with Arthur Kronberg. Enzymes are magnificent molecules that do mysterious things, yet I feel these amazing molecules are under-appreciated due to the significant background education required to begin to understand what they are and what they do. Kornburg explains enzymes in a exceptional way, one of which I think could be easily understood by both the highly and lower educated people. He also explains them in a way that does not bore the higher educated people, and does not confuse the lower educated person. He reaches a middle ground that is sometimes difficult to find for a science writer.

I especially enjoyed the last chapter in which Kronberg talks about his difficulties as a researcher. He described how writing is a thing that is typically overlooked by even the best researchers, yet writing could be argued as being the most important part of a researcher. Without writing your results, it would be like you never did the experiments. He also compares the different experts in the effort to understand metabolic processes, such as geneticist, engineers, chemist, physicist, and biochemist. I, and Kronberg, are likely biased, but the biochemist plays a critical role in the understanding of what these genes (or their respective proteins) actually do.