The Bakerian Lecture: Molecular structure in the polysaccharide group

Abstract

It has been clear for some considerable time that a more precise knowledge of the molecular structure of the polysaccharides is needed for the solution of many problems in biology and medicine. This was emphasized by Sir Norman Haworth in the Bakerian Lecture delivered in 1944, when he reviewed the position then reached concerning the structure, biological function and synthesis of typical polysaccharides. In this connexion it is of interest to recall that by 1944 the view that naturally occurring colloidal substances such as starch and cellulose possessed molecular structures held together by normal co-valent bonds had received general acceptance for less than 20 years. Furthermore, the evidence for the main structural features of the polysaccharides had been acquired by difficult and laborious experimental methods which normally involved the manipulation of large quantities of material. Some idea of the general molecular architecture of many polysaccharides had been gained, but the methods then available were not capable of delving much deeper into the detailed structural features. This fine structure is nevertheless of particular importance, since the presence of irregular features in the molecule, even in slight degree, may alter quite markedly the behaviour of these high polymers. It will be readily understood also that the fine structure of these macromolecules is a matter of great moment in enzymology.