The History of the Metabolism Concept

The concept of metabolism, as the primary object of the emerging science of biochemistry, has steadily matured over time. However, the construction of metabolism essentially took place in the first half of the 20th century the metabolism's golden age. This chapter reviews several important phases in the construction of the metabolism concept, from its beginnings to maturity: from Lavoisier's time, to that of Claude Bernard and Felix Hoppe-Seyler, then to the 1960s, and to the dawn of molecular biology. The classic starting point of metabolism in biochemistry is Lavoisier's series of experiments on respiration and those in collaboration with Pierre Simon de Laplace on animal heat, which clarified the process of gaseous exchange in respiration and their energetic significance. In France, since the 18th century, the great names of chemistry had advanced food chemistry: Lemery, Lavoisier, Parmentier, Chaptal, Fourcroy, Chevreul, etc.