Date context
1906–1979
Enzyme research and migration
Born in 1906, Chain studied chemistry in Berlin and investigated enzymes at the Charité. After the Nazi accession to power, he left Germany in 1933, working at Cambridge before moving to Oxford in 1935. Enzymology, microanalysis and biochemistry supplied practical foundations for investigating antibacterial substances produced by microorganisms.
References: [1]
Making an unstable substance investigable
In 1939 Chain and Florey began systematic antibacterial research, revisiting Fleming’s penicillin. Its instability made isolation and concentration central experimental problems. Chain’s extraction work combined with Heatley’s assays and apparatus and the team’s biological investigations, progressively providing material suitable for further testing and chemical analysis.
References: [3]
Structure and fermentation research
Purification, structure and production remained research problems after therapeutic promise emerged, with Abraham and others contributing. In Rome, Chain subsequently pursued microbial chemistry, fermentation and metabolites. Recovering active material, establishing its properties and enlarging production were connected stages that each required distinct methods and forms of evidence.
Building biochemistry at Imperial
He became Imperial’s Professor of Biochemistry in 1961 and helped develop its department and facilities, including fermentation equipment at pilot scale. This organization linked university experiments with industrial biotechnology. He died in 1979. The 1945 Nobel recognition marked penicillin work within a career also devoted to methods, facilities and disciplinary development.