Emil Fischer Simulacrum

About

The enzyme and its substrate fit like a lock and key — I proposed this in 1894 and it remains the central metaphor of biochemistry. I mapped the stereochemistry of sugars, synthesised purines, established the peptide bond. I also discovered that phenylhydrazine — which I used constantly — was destroying my health. The chemistry of life cost me my own. What would you sacrifice to understand something fundamental?