Institute of Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Union of

organized in Moscow in 1935 upon the initiative of A. N. Bakh and A. I. Oparin. The basictask of the lnstitute of Biochemistry is the study of processes of metabolism and energy in living organisms and of methods for controlling metabolic processes. Important problems under investigation at the institute include the biology of enzymes, the mechanisms of their action in the living cell, and their behavior in autolytic mixtures; biological fixation of nitrogen; metabolism of amino acids in plants and microorganisms; biological oxidation; the role of phosphorous compounds in respiratory processes; the nature of primary processes which occur during photosynthesis in plants and bacteria; the biochemistry of phytoimmunity; biosynthesis and the mechanisms of action of vitamins; the chemistry and biochemistry of carbohydrates; and evolutionary biochemistry and radiobiology. The works of A. I. Oparin on the problem of the origin of life on earth are of great significance.

Research conducted at the Institute of Biochemistry has been applied to the national economy and has facilitated the improvement of some old and the rise of new sectors of industry. For example, the biochemical essence of the changes occurring during the storage of grain and during its processing was explained. Methods for producing vitamins A and B₁₂ preparations for medical purposes and for fodder concentrates were proposed and introduced into production; a method of producing L-lysine in crystalline form and in the form of a fodder concentrate containing 15–18 percent lysine was developed and introduced into production and other achievements have been made. There were 14 laboratories in the Institute of Biochemistry at the beginning of 1970. Works of institute associates are published predominantly in the journals Biokhimiia (Biochemistry), Doklady AN SSSR (Reports of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR), Izvestiia AN SSSR (News of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR), and Prikladnaia biokhimiia i mikrobiologiia (Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology); in thematic collections; and in monograph form. The Institute of Biochemistry has a graduate program. It was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1967.