78 FARRERAS
biosynthesis of methionine.^3 It also studied the biochemical mechanism
for formation and utilization of onium compounds as well as the rela
tionship between the enzymes thetin-homocysteine methylpherase and
betaine-homocysteine methylpherase and the characteristic and structural
groups of the proteins responsible for the polymerization reaction.^4
The comparative biochemistry research was centered on understand
ing metabolic differences between different cells, tissues, and species
in response to chemical agents and drugs, in particular the nature
and mechanism of protein synthesis through the activation of amino
acids.^5 The transfer of the activated amino acids to a polyribonucleotide
carrier (S-RNA) and the study of its chemistry, molecular configuration,
and biological characteristics was expected to elucidate a biological
“coding” mechanism.^6
The third area of research focused on the intermediary metabolism of
carbohydrates and amino acids, particularly the relationship between
individual amino acids and metabolites of the citric acid cycle.^7 Other
research in this area also focused on the mechanism of aromatic hydro
xylation reactions, especially the enzymatic conversion of phenylalanine
to tyrosine and the structure and function of cofactors involved in
this conversion that would elucidate the etiology of oligophrenia
phenylpyruvica, a form of mental deficiency in children, as well as on the
hydroxylation reaction underlying the biosynthesis of noradrenaline.^8
In the early spring of 1959, a greenhouse research facility was con
structed to conduct studies clarifying the mechanism of synthesis of
alkaloids and other drugs by plants.^9 As a result, a Section on Alkaloid
Biosynthesis and Plant Metabolism was established under S. Harvey
Mudd that focused on: 1) mechanisms of transmethylation in higher
plants, especially the role of S-adenosylmethionine; 2) the pathway
and mechanisms involved in methionine biosynthesis in higher plants;
and 3) the structural resemblance of certain plant alkaloids to adrenal
hormones and serotonin.^10
At this time the laboratory expanded its areas of interest to four
topics–mechanisms and pathways of protein biosynthesis; biological
methylation; biological oxygenation; and alkaloid biosynthesis–and
created two additional sections: Proteins, under Giulio L. Cantoni, and
Cellular Regulatory Mechanisms, under biochemist Seymour Kaufman.^11