Studies from the research laboratory of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station : the nucleic acid of the wheat embryo / by Thomas B. Osborne and Isaac F. Harris.

  • Thomas Burr Osborne
Date:
[1902]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Studies from the research laboratory of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station : the nucleic acid of the wheat embryo / by Thomas B. Osborne and Isaac F. Harris. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    TEE NUCLEIC ACID OF THE WHEAT EMBRYO. By Thomas B. Osborne and Isaac F. Harris. I. Introduction. All organisms, whether animal or vegetable, begin life as single cells which develop by division, the single cell becoming two, or in some cases four, which grow and again divide, so that their number multiplies in rapidly increasing progression. This division is preceded by division of the nucleus, a small body within the mass of the cell, which has a different chemical con- stitution from the protoplasm contained in the other parts of the cell. The nucleus is evidently the center of the physiologi- cal processes of the cell and is present in all those which are capable of growth and development. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance for an intelligent study of life phenomena to have the most complete knowledge possible of the substances contained in the cell and especially of those forming the nucleus. Investigations made during the past twenty-five years show that a large part of the nuclei of all the cells so far examined consists of one or more of a group of acids, with peculiar and characteristic properties, which have been named the nucleic acids. Although these acids have been the subject of much study, our knowledge of them is as yet very imperfect. The ultimate composition of no one of them has been established beyond a reasonable doubt, although that from salmon-milt appears to be fixed within narrow limits. Of the basicity of these acids and the details of their relations to other substances we have little definite information. The constitution of none has been established, although a number of their decom- position products have been obtained. It is true that Bang has recently described the constitution of a somewhat similar acid found in the pancreas, but this evidently belongs to a different group of substances. Nucleic acid is usually found in nature combined with pro- tein matter, and it is necessary, therefore, in continuing the studies of vegetable proteins, which have been carried on in this laboratory for years, to obtain a thorough knowledge of nucleic
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