Here I present: Phoebus Levene (1869-1940), “Uber die Hefenucleinsaure (About the Yeast Nucleic Acid)”, Biochemische Zeitschrift, volume 17: pages 120–131, year 1909.
INTRODUCTION.
Ruth Kavenoff, Lynn C Klotz, Bruno H Zimm, “On the nature of chromosome-sized DNA molecules”, Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology volume 38, pages 1-8, year 1974 was a historic breakthrough in biochemistry. Phoebus Levene (1869-1940) in “About the Yeast Nucleic Acid”, 1909 was a hurdle for organic chemistry. Phoebus Levene (1869-1940) in 1909 like everyone else could not imagine “chromosome-sized DNA molecules”.
COMMENTS.
In 1953 a new thinking in the new subject of “macromolecular chemistry” that included Bruno H Zimm put the belief in Phoebus Levene (1869-1940) small organic molecules as what DNA was to rest. By 1974 Bruno H Zimm showed that the chromosomal DNA were composed of one molecule. The viewpoint 1909 that Phoebus Levene (1869-1940) had of nucleic acids (DNA is shown ATOP): the structural chemistry is not incorrect; but, there is no sense “macromolecules” in the year 1909. In 1953 the Watson-Crick model of DNA was published; now in this century chromosome-sized DNA molecules is part of current culture. C35H51O25N15P4 was considered the molecular formula of DNA (shown ABOVE) by Phoebus Levene (1869-1940) who told people that genes were not nucleic acids.
