One Hundred Years of Peptide Chemistry

V V Suresh Babu is in the Department of Studies in Chemistry, Bangalore University, Bangalore. His research interest is chemical synthesis of non-coded amino acids and peptides.

Emil Fischer is considered to be the founding father of the field of peptide chemistry and originator of the term peptide. In the beginning of the 20th century, Fischer had a clear vision to foresee the day when a protein would be synthesized. Subsequent to this brilliant beginning, progress however was slow for the next 50 years. In 1953, the chemical synthesis of oxytocin by duVigneaud was a landmark achievement. The subsequent decades witnessed the discovery of a vast number of biologically active peptides. The last two decades of the 20th century was filled with hopes of multiple simultaneous synthesis, peptide libraries and peptide vaccines. This article is a concise account of the types of family of peptides discovered and their biological role.

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Address for Correspondence
V V Suresh Babu 
Department of Studies in Chemistry 
Dr. B R Ambedkar Veedhi 
Central College Campus 
Bangalore University 
Bangalore 560 001, India.