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Home , Geneva, History of biochemistry, University of Geneva

826 CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 12 THE 450TH ANNIVERSARYOFTHE ACADÉMIE ET UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE

doi:10.2533/chimia.2009.826 Chimia 63 (2009) 826–829 © Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft History of at the University of From the Boulevard des Philosophes to Quai Ernest-Ansermet

Jacques Deshusses and Howard Riezman*

Abstract: A brief account of the developments in biochemistry at the Faculty of Science of the University of Ge- neva is given from its emergence from organic at the Ancienne Ecole de chimie to today’s Department of Biochemistry at the Section de chimie et biochimie. Keywords: Biochemistry at the

Introduction Techniques also changed greatly with 1937) who dedicated a small amount of his time. As long as the interests were basic lecture time to chemical , toxicol- Biochemistry is a science that slowly analyses of the major components of living ogy and pharmacology. emerged from the field of organic chemis- materials, the methodology was inspired The history of biochemistry in Geneva try and initially focused on the chemistry from the chemistry of complex mixtures of really is tightly linked to the Ancienne of molecules isolated from living material. organic substances. Isolation and charac- Ecole de Chimie, which was located on the At this stage it was called biological chem- terization techniques were fundamental to Boulevard des Philosophes. This venerable istry. However, once the major components this process. More refined techniques com- building, inaugurated in 1877, housed sev- were analysed chemically, the scientific ing from molecular biology later appeared eral internationally renowned scientists. interest turned to their transformation, in gradually in the different departments, Chemistry was highly oriented towards what turned out to be enzymatic reactions, including various types of spectroscopy. inorganic chemistry, for example the pre- and how diverse biological functions are Even though the instrumentation was ini- cise determination of atomic weights by regulated. Up until the 1960s, the study tially relatively simple, the elevated cost of de Marignac during the 19th century, and of biochemistry was centered on primary some instruments required collaborations then turned towards analytical chemistry. of small molecules, in par- between different laboratories and led to a The weight given to and ticular on how energy is produced, stored number of collaborations within and out- research on natural products intensified lat- and the biosynthesis and catabolism of the side of the University. er. One can say that modern biochemistry basic building blocks, amino acids, sug- At the University of Geneva, Biochem- and enzymology began at the University of ars, lipidic compounds, and nucleotides. istry developed initially in the Faculty of Geneva with the arrival of Kurt H. Meyer However, with the import of physical and Sciences, however the Faculty of Medicine (1882–1952). He was nominated professor genetic techniques that allowed the deter- also had a biochemistry curriculum, more in 1932 and came from IG Farben in Ger- mination of the structure of DNA and the focused on physiological aspects, which many due to disagreements concerning the discovery of the , the field of justified the original name given to the future of the company. Meyer felt that due biochemistry grew enormously. Biochem- department, Physiological Chemistry and to the political climate in Nazi Germany ists were found distributed in different de- later changed to Medical Biochemistry. it would be impossible for him to obtain partments according to their diverse inter- The mention of Biochemistry as a Depart- an appointment at the Technical University ests, including Molecular Biology, Animal ment at the subsequently of .[1] Prof. Meyer’s group worked Biology and Plant Biology. disappeared and developments there will in several areas, but the principle interests not be discussed here. of his group centered on natural polymer structures like rubber, cellulose and (1940). In this field, he trained a colleague, Origins Prof. van der Wick (1902–1976) who fo- cused especially on the thermodynamic A pioneer of experimental biochemis- properties of elastic polymers like rubber. try came from an illustrious citizen of Ge- Prof. Meyer also studied the properties neva, Théodore de Saussure (1767–1845), of semi-permeable membranes and their although he was not a professor at the electrical properties. Studies in the Meyer university. At the end of the 18th century lab investigated the hydrolyzing *Correspondence: Prof. H. Riezman Department of Biochemistry, he discovered the role of carbon dioxide starch, in particular (1940) and Sciences II and water on plant growth and outlined the phosphorylase (1942). To do this he intro- 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet basic reaction of photosynthesis. However, duced the first techniques of zone electro- CH-1211 Genève 4 many years passed before biochemistry phoresis for proteins. Tel.: +41 22 379 6469 Fax: +41 22 379 6470 became of interest at the university. Nev- One of Meyer’s students, Edmond E-mail: [email protected] ertheless, one can cite Amé Pictet (1857– Fischer, was greatly influenced by Prof. THE 450TH ANNIVERSARYOFTHE ACADÉMIE ET UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 12 827

Meyer. He finished his thesis on phos- Fig. A copy of a diplo- phorylase in 1947 and also purified amy- ma delivered in 1959 lase. Edmond Fischer maintained frequent before the creation contact even after he pursued his career in of the department of Seattle Washington, in the United States. biochemistry. At the time, a dual degree in His work on the reversible phosphoryla- chemistry and biology tion of proteins earned him the was awarded. for Medicine in 1992. An interview with Edmond Fischer describing his years with Kurt H. Meyer also appears in this vol- ume. Roger-Aymon Boissonnas, another student of Prof. Meyer rose to high levels in the scientific hierarchy of the chemical industry in . Boissonnas received his privat-docent in 1950 to give a course on complex sugars and polysaccharides (1950) and then on the chemical synthe- sis of peptides (1952). Another student of Prof. Meyer, Eric Stein, as we will see be- low, became professor of biochemistry in Geneva. Upon the death of Prof. Meyer in April 1952, the University of Geneva appointed Théodore Posternak (1903–1982). He came to Geneva from Basel in 1953 and in certain ways took over the succession of Kurt H. Meyer. A special chair was created for him and his laboratory was called Chimie Biologique et Organique Speciale (BOS) because the section real- ized the importance of the new science, biochemistry, that was emerging from or- ganic chemistry and that the University of Geneva had a late start in this field. Prof. Posternak became renowned for his elu- cidation of the three-dimensional struc- ture of myo-inositol when he previously the organic chemistry course that was giv- today, and the passage of the new univer- worked in . He pursued several en for all of the science students. sity law (see below). However, already lines of research including the synthesis Starting in 1967 the BOSD (it was in 1966 Eric Stein was nominated for the and structure of cyclic molecules of the called the BOS lab) laboratory was split Biochemistry course given for biologists. inositol family and their phosphorylated into different buildings, in Sciences I and Stein also studied with Kurt H. Meyer and derivatives, their metabolic fates in the Pavillon des Isotopes, quai Ernest- worked with Edmond Fischer at the time. and animals, the analysis of inositol-con- Ansermet, while part remained in the They pursued a 15 year-collaboration and taining lipids. He branched out to studying Ancienne Ecole de Chimie. By 1973, the life-long friendship. Stein’s research was analogues of cyclic AMP that were mem- different groups were reunited in a new inspired by his postdoctoral work with brane permeant and able to act as second reorganization when the building Sciences Prof. Hans Neurath (Nobel prize winner) messengers in the activation of cellular sig- II was opened. The groups of Profs. Stein, in Seattle, who also recruited Edmond naling pathways. Prof. Posternak was not Bargetzi and Kobr also moved at the same Fischer to the University of Washington, only an excellent sugar , but he also time into their newly created department, and was focused on hydrolytic enzymes worked on the synthesis of nucleotide de- called the Department of Biochemistry. acting on starch and afterwards on the pro- rivatives and fungal pigments. His courses There were numerous teins that bind calcium with high affinity. were principally focused on metabolism, awarded to people who took over academ- Jean-Pierre Bargetzi was nominated because the recent insights into structural ic or industrial leading positions, among professor with his position coming from biology were not yet available. His course which were: Dominique Reymond (Nestlé, the Swiss National Science Foundation was called chimie biologique. The students Loréal), Anne-Lise Haenni (professor, Pa- ad personam. He also spent some time interested in these phenomena could fol- ris, France), Etienne Charollais (professor, in the laboratory of Hans Neurath and he low a hybrid curriculum between biology Genève, Lausanne), Jacques Deshusses worked on the structure of collagen as well and chemistry (Fig.). (professor Dept Biochimie, Genève, see as mechanisms. Bargetzi came to In parallel Prof. Emile Cherbuliez below), and Albert Gabai (chemist with Geneva from Neuchatel where he used (1891–1985) was chair of Pharmaceuti- ) among others. biochemical methods to study problems in cal Chemistry, then Organic Chemistry. taxonomy. He worked on phosphatase (1949), casein In 1973 another major change in the (1950) and on the chemical phosphoryla- Modern Times university influenced the studies of bio- tion of alcohols (1952). He was also in- chemistry, as well as other disciplines. terested in isolation of pharmacologically The biochemistry department finally The new university law changed the struc- active substances from plant . When took form with the opening of the building ture of the different schools and professors Posternak arrived in Geneva, he took over Sciences II in 1973, where it is still housed were no longer designated as Chairs with 828 CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 12 THE 450TH ANNIVERSARYOFTHE ACADÉMIE ET UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE

the responsibility for a certain course of and has received several prestigious prizes, in neurobiology and participates actively study, but were nominated in a department among which are the Marcel Benoist Prize in biochemistry teaching. that became responsible for teaching. The and the Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine. In 1992, Dr Patrick Nef, joined the new university structure led to the creation The Laemmli lab began by studying the as- Department of Biochemistry as a START of the Department of Biochemistry in the sembly of phage particles, but since his ar- fellow from the Swiss National Science Chemistry Section and grouped together rival in Geneva the work has concentrated Foundation. After having completed his the research groups of Profs Stein, Bar- on the molecular organization and function in the Biochemistry department getzi, the biological part of the Posternak of the nucleus. More information on Prof in Geneva he did postdoctoral studies at the group and a new lecturer. This new organi- Laemmli’s research can be found in an- Salk Institute in San Diego (USA) before zation was not well accepted by Prof. Pos- other chapter in this volume because he is returning to . His work cen- ternak who refused to be integrated into the still a member of the current biochemistry tered on the molecular mechanisms that new structure and therefore, he remained department. regulate the chemosensory response. He head of his own unit until his retirement in Upon the death of Eric Stein, the de- stayed in the department until 1998 and 1973. Upon his retirement, his resources partment recruited Prof. Stuart Edelstein has since been Vice-President and Global were split between the departments of bio- from Cornell University (USA). Prof Director at Roche Pharma Partnering, and chemistry and organic chemistry. Edelstein was a successful chairman of the CEO of biotechnologies companies, in- As mentioned earlier the university of- prestigious Section of Biochemistry, Mo- cluding Faust Pharmaceuticals and Xytis. fered a dual diploma in biology and chemis- lecular and Biology. He was profes- In 1993, F. Gisou van der Goot joined try. In 1969 this dual diploma was replaced sor at Cornell from 1977 to 1980 and was the department, first as a Maître Assistant with a specific curriculum and diploma in called to the Biochemistry Department in and then as a Maître d’enseignement et de biochemistry. This new diploma quickly 1986, where he acted as director for seven recherche. She received a PhD in biophys- became popular with students and approxi- years. His research focused on the struc- ics from and then was a postdoctoral mately one half of the chemistry students tural basis of disease, including seminal fellow at the European Molecular Biology chose to do their diploma in biochemistry. work on sickle cell anemia and important Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. Her This new course of studies also opened the work, in collaboration with Jean-Pierre work focuses on bacterial pathogenesis with door for a new PhD in biochemistry, which Changeux on the nicotinic acetylcholine particular emphasis on bacterial toxins and was offered not only to students in the de- receptor. He has received several honors, their mechanism of action. After a highly partment, but also to students in other labo- including election as a foreign member of successful period in the Biochemistry de- ratories of the Faculty of Sciences working the French Academy of Sciences and was partment she was appointed Associate Pro- in the field of biochemistry. awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2003 by fessor in the Faculty of Medicine in Geneva In the mid 1970s, the biochemistry de- the French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre (2001) and then recruited by the EPFL as partment had the following composition. Raffarin. His most recent work utilizes a full Professor in 2005. She is this year’s Jacques Deshusses, professor Assistant computational tools to study protein struc- recipient of the Marcel Benoist Prize. (1968), extraordinaire (1971), ordinaire ture and dynamics. In 1993, Jean Gruenberg was appointed (1975). His research interests encom- Upon the death of Prof. Kobr, Bernard Professor, as successor of Jean-Pierre Bar- passed the dynamic aspects of bacterial, Fulpius was appointed Professor in 1979 getzi. Prof. Gruenberg obtained his doctor- yeast and trypanosome membranes. He and he also assumed the function of di- ate from the department of biochemistry, studied the mechanism of entry of sug- . Coming from the medical faculty working in the laboratory of Jacques De- ars and amino acids into these organisms he brought in a more medical vision than shusses. After postdoctoral studies at the and how this related to the energetic state the other professors. His work focused on -Riverside (USA) within the cell. As mentioned above Jean- acetylcholine receptors and their recogni- and at the EMBL, he started his own group Pierre Bargetzi arrived from Neuchatel and tion by antibodies. His extraordinary tal- at the EMBL. The Biochemistry Depart- worked on collagen. Milos Kobr was nomi- ents for administration, however, pulled ment recruited him from the EMBL. To- nated Assistant Professor in 1968, coming him away from research. He served on the gether with Prof. Laemmli the two groups from Purdue University (USA). He stud- Research Council of the Swiss National clearly reoriented the department towards ied energy metabolism in the fungus, Neu- Science Foundation for several years. He its current focus, the biochemistry of cell rospora crassa with emphasis on the roles became director of the important Louis biology and membranes. The Gruenberg of subcellular organelles. He was very Jeantet Foundation and eventually the group focuses on the study of the pathway interested by the new chemiosmotic theo- Foundation Brocher. In 1986 he left the of endocytosis, the route whereby growth ries describing bioenergetics in the cell. department to concentrate on these ad- factors, hormones and their receptors enter As mentioned above, Eric Stein’s group ministrative tasks, becoming Dean of the into cells. This route is also hijacked by focused on calcium binding proteins. The Faculty of Medicine, then Rector of the viruses and other pathogens that use it to major contributor to these studies was Jos University, and was replaced by one of his enter into cells. He is renowned for using Cox who developed his own group in the most talented coworkers, Marc Ballivet, in vitro reconstitution of endocytic events department and was nominated Maître who was appointed professor in 1988. in his analysis of the pathway. More infor- d’Enseignement et de Recherche. Prof. Ballivet was one of the first to clone mation about Prof. Gruenberg’s research In 1980 the Departments of Biochemis- the DNA for the acetylcholine receptor can be found in this volume as he is still a try and Molecular Biology decided to join and concentrated his future research on member of the department. He was direc- forces and recruited Ulrich K. Laemm- this topic. He published over 100 arti- tor of the department for several years. li from Princeton (USA), who was ap- cles in the field and is renowned for his In 2002, Howard Riezman was re- pointed professor with a joint appointment structure-function studies on the receptor. cruited to replace Prof. Jacques Deshus- in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He was department director for two years. ses. Prof. Riezman obtained his PhD from This ushered in a new era where the tools Prof. Ballivet retired in 2006. One of his the University of Wisconsin-Madison of molecular biology would be used ex- most productive collaborators, Jean-Marc (USA) and then moved to Switzerland tensively in the biochemistry department. Matter has part of his appointment as a for postdoctoral studies with Prof. Gott- Prof Laemmli is today the most highly Maître d’enseignement et de recherche in fried Schatz at the Biozentrum in Basel. cited researcher in the biological sciences Biochemistry. He does excellent research After holding a group leader position for THE 450TH ANNIVERSARYOFTHE ACADÉMIE ET UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE CHIMIA 2009, 63, No. 12 829

five years at the Swiss Experimental Can- The increased interactions between model systems, including Drosophila and cer Research Institute (ISREC), he took a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology zebrafish, in particular how membrane professor position in Biochemistry at the is reflected in two of the recent appoint- trafficking and signaling are interrelated Biozentrum in Basel where he stayed for ments leading to the current composition and how they affect developmental deci- 14 years before being recruited to Geneva. of the department. Professors Ballivet and sions. His research focuses on the biochemistry Laemmli were replaced by two jointly Finally, in 2007, Reika Watanabe was and of membrane trafficking with appointed professors. This doubled the appointed Assistant Professor in the de- emphasis on endocytosis and secretion. He number of joint appointments. partment of biochemistry. Prof Watanabe is known for his pioneering studies on en- Prof. Thanos Halazonetis is a Greek received her PhD from docytosis in yeast and the demonstrations citizen trained originally in dentistry, but and then was a postdoctoral fellow with that actin, ubiquitination, and certain lipids who obtained his PhD in genetics from Prof. Riezman in Basel then Geneva. Since are required for this process. He served for Harvard. He worked three years at Merck 2007 she is a Professeure Boursière of the almost eight years on the Research Council Sharp and Dohme before taking a faculty Swiss National Science Foundation. The of the Swiss National Science Foundation. position at the Wistar Institute where he focus of her research is on the mechanism He is the current department director. climbed the ranks from Assistant to Full of protein exit from the endoplasmic retic- In 2004, Thierry Soldati joined the de- Professor. In 2006 he was recruited to the ulum and protein secretion in animal cells. partment as a Maître d’enseignement et de University of Geneva. His laboratory is Over the past two decades the Bio- recherche and in 2009 became the official housed in the Department of Molecular Bi- chemistry department has made a con- successor of Jos Cox in this position. Dr. ology, which moved a few years ago from stant effort to attract the highest quality Soldati was an undergraduate student in the Sciences II to the newly finished Sciences researchers possible and focus on using department of biochemistry and then went III next door. His research centers on the biochemical and genetic techniques to elu- to the ETH for his doctorate. After biochemistry of DNA repair and the role cidate the mechanisms of basic cell bio- a postdoctoral stay at Stanford (USA) he of DNA damage in cancer. logical processes. These have been fruitful was group leader at the Max Planck Insti- Prof. Marcos González-Gaitán is a years and more information can be found tute in Heidelberg (Germany) then lecturer Spanish citizen who received his PhD in about the current focus and productivity of at the Imperial College (UK) from Biology from the Autonomous University the department in the accompanying article where he was recruited to Geneva. His of , where he stayed as a postdoc- in this volume, with a more detailed expla- research exploits the social amoeba Dic- toral fellow afterwards. He then was a nation of the research of all of the current tyostelium discoideum as a model system postdoctoral fellow in and the Max members. for studies on phagocytosis and bacterial Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemis- infections, in particular mycobacteria. try in Göttingen before becoming a group Received: October 27, 2009 The increasing importance of Bio- leader at the Max Planck Institute of Mo- chemistry at the University as well as the lecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dres- [1] ‘The Expulsion of Jewish and from Academia in Nazi Germany’, increasing interactions with Molecular den (Germany). In 2006 he was recruited Perspectives on Science 1999, 7, 1–86. Biology are revealed by the most recent from to the University of Geneva. events. In 2008, the Section of Chemistry His laboratory is housed in the biochem- changed its name to be called the Section istry department. His research focuses on of Chemistry and Biochemistry. the mechanisms of in