Kossel, Albrecht

Albrecht Kossel was born into the family of the Prussian consul and merchant Albrecht Karl Ludwig Enoch Kossel and his wife Klara Jeppe Kossel. Kossel attended a gymnasium in Rostock, where he showed considerable interest in chemistry and botany.

In 1872, Kossel entered Strasbourg University , where he studied under Felix Hoppe-Zeiler , who led the only department of biochemistry in Germany at that time. Kossel attended lectures by Anton de Bary, Valdeyer , August Kundt and Adolf Bayer . He completed his studies at Rostock University and received a diploma in medicine in 1877 ^[5] .

After graduation, Kossel returned to Strasbourg, where he entered as an assistant to Felix Hoppe-Seiler . At that time, Goppe-Zeiler was studying an acidic substance, which in 1869 was isolated from pus cells by one of his former students, Friedrich Miescher . This substance, like proteins, contained a large amount of phosphorus, but its acidity significantly exceeded the acidity of any compounds that had been isolated from cells by that time ^[5] . Kossel showed that a substance called “nuclein” consisted of a protein and non-protein component. Kossel identified and described a non-protein component. This substance, containing genetic information in any living cells, has become known as nucleic acid .

In 1885-1901, Kossel isolated and described five organic compounds present in nucleic acids: adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil. These compounds were later described as nitrogenous bases, which are key in the formation of DNA and RNA molecules that store genetic information in all living cells ^[6] .

In 1883, Kossel left Strasbourg and began to lead the chemical department of the Department of Physiology at the University of Berlin , replacing Eugen Baumann . In this position, Kossel continued to study nucleic acids under the direction of Emile Dubois-Reymond ^[5] .

In 1895, Kossel was a professor of physiology and led the physiological department at the University of Marburg . At this time, he began to study the chemical structure of the protein, changes in the protein during its conversion to peptone, peptide components of cells, etc. ^[5] .

In 1896, Kossel discovered histidine , then developed the classical method for the quantitative isolation of hexon bases (alpha amino acids arginine, histidine, and lysine). Kossel was also the first to isolate theophylline , a therapeutic drug found in tea and cocoa beans.

In 1901, Kossel was appointed head of the protein research department at the University of Heidelberg . His research contributed to the discovery of the polypeptide nature of protein molecules ^[5] .

Kossel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on December 10, 1910 ^[6] for his studies of cell biology, the chemical composition of the cell nucleus, and for his work on the isolation and description of nucleic acids.

In the fall of 1911, Kossel was invited to the United States to give Herter's lecture at Johns Hopkins University "Squirrels." Kossel traveled with his wife Louise and daughter Gertrude, visiting his friends, including his wife's cousin Eugene W. Hilgard, professor emeritus in agricultural chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley . Kossel also lectured at several other universities, including the University of Chicago ^[5] .

In New York, Kossel gave an interview to a New York Times reporter. According to reports, he spoke excellent English, and his modesty and restraint are described in detail in the report of the reporter ^[7] .

This trip was Kossel's only visit to the United States ^[5] .

Together with his distinguished English student, Henry Drysdale Dakin, Kossel investigated arginase, an enzyme that hydrolyzes arginine to ornithine and urea. Later, he discovered agmatine in herring caviar and developed a method for its preparation ^[6] .

Another Kossel student was the American biochemist Edwin B. Hart, who later returned to the United States to participate in the “single-grain experiment” in 1907-1911. He also participated in determining the dependence of the occurrence of anemia and goiter on food consumed. Another student, Otto Folin, is an American scientist who discovered creatine phosphate.

In 1923, Kossel was a representative of Germany at the 11th physiological congress in Edinburgh. When he appeared before the assembled scientists, they applauded him for several minutes. At the congress, the University of Edinburgh awarded Kossel an honorary title ^[5] .

In 1924, Kossel became an honorary professor, but continued to lecture at the University of Heidelberg. In April 1927, he attended the centenary of Lister in England ^[5] .

In the last years of his life, Kossel studied the composition of protamines and histones, discovered flavianic acid. A monograph describing this work was published shortly after his death ^[5] .

Kossel contributed to the creation of the first issues of the Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie (Journal of Physiological Chemistry). This publication was created by his teacher, Professor Felix Goppe-Zeiler in 1877, at the same time that Kossel became his assistant. After the death of Goppe-Zeiler in 1895, Kossel headed the editorial board of the magazine, and held this position until his own death in 1927 ^[5] .

In 1886, Kossel married Louise Holtzmann, the daughter of Adolf Holtzmann , a famous philologist and professor at the University of Heidelberg. The Kossel family had three children, two of whom survived to maturity: son Walter and daughter Gertrude. Walter Kossel became an outstanding physicist, was a professor of theoretical physics and led the Physics Institute of Tübingen University . He is known for his theory of chemical bonding (ionic bonding / octet rule), the Sommerfeld-Kossel displacement rule, and other achievements.

According to all descriptions, Kossel did not show political activity and was not interested in politics ^[5] .

Thanks to his marriage to Louise, Kossel became associated with prominent Americans: soil scientist Eugene W. Hilgard, journalist and financier Henry Villard, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison ^[5] .

Louise Kossel died in 1913 from acute pancreatitis. Kossel died quietly on July 5, 1927 after a second attack of angina pectoris ^[5] . He is buried in Heidelberg, Germany.

Albrecht Kossel is one of the truly great scientists in the field of biochemistry and genetics ^[5] . Isolation and description of nucleic acids and nitrogenous bases subsequently led to the discovery of the double helix of DNA by James D. Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 ^[6] .

Institute of Neuroregeneration Albrecht Kossel at Rostock University is named after him.

• Untersuchungen über die Nukleine und ihre Spaltungsprodukte ("Investigations into the nucleins and their cleavage products", 1881)
• Die Gewebe des menschlichen Körpers und ihre mikroskopische Untersuchung ("The tissues in the human body and their microscopic investigation", 1889-1891)
• Leitfaden für medizinisch-chemische Kurse ("Textbook for medical-chemical courses", 1888)
• Die Probleme der Biochemie ("The problems of biochemistry", 1908)
• Die Beziehungen der Chemie zur Physiologie ("The relationships between chemistry and physiology", 1913)

• Profile of Albrecht Kossel on the official website of the RAS