125th anniversary of the founding of the first department of medical chemistry and physics in Russia

The historiography of biological chemistry is just beginning to develop, but the need for research in this field is becoming more and more evident every day. In this connection, a specialized symposium was organized by Professor A. N. Shamin at the V All-Union Biochemical Congress (January 27-31, 1986). Undoubtedly, the origins of biochemistry can be found in the speculations of ancient thinkers on the nature of fermentation and on the role of air and food in the life of living organisms. And yet the emergence of biochemistry as a science is truly connected with the formation of chemistry in the late 17th century, which is especially characteristic of the formation of biochemistry in Germany, where M. A. Blanco, O. Yu. Yelina and M. G. Kaplanskaya clearly trace its two sources: the chemistry of natural compounds and physiology.