“Consider the protein as topic
Of int’rest most etymologic:
A vocab-themed mission
Reflects first position
Through protean path biologic!”
The 25 April 2024 limerick examined the etymology of the word “protein,” highlighting a topic from biochemistry in honor of the annual celebration of DNA Day.
“Consider the protein as topic /
Of int’rest most etymologic…”
I was interested last April in exploring a question of biochemistry vocabulary, which quickly became more complex than I expected. After much internet searching last spring, I also found a helpful overview in Isaac Asimov’s Words of Science, in composing this essay.
“A vocab-themed mission /
Reflects first position /
Through protean path biologic!”
Asimov notes that British chemist William Prout classified three kinds of food-related substances in 1827: what would ultimately become known as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins in subsequent years were originally deemed the “saccharins,” the “oily,” and the “albuminous,” respectively.
The albuminous compounds (so named because they were a cloudy white, from the Latin albus for “white”– think of egg white, for instance) were seen to contain nitrogen, unlike the compounds in the other two categories. Dutch chemist Gerardus Johannes Mulder more clearly defined the albuminous compounds, citing in 1838 their common properties and elemental compositions (percentages of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen). He corresponded with Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who suggested the name “protein” for this type of substance, building on the Greek for “in the first place,” since parallel studies were showing the immense (“first-place”) importance of proteins for nutrition.
The last line of the poem likewise notes the centrality of proteins to the complex discipline of biochemistry. It features the similarity between “protein” and “protean”; the latter term also comes from the same Greek root for “first” and highlights the connection to the Greek god Proteus, famous for changing forms. (This became a quite appropriate allusion, considering how challenging it was to track down a concrete answer to this seemingly simple question.)
Chemphasis 