1869: Friedrich Miescher isolates “nuclein” from cell nuclei [1] [29]

Art Piece: Alchemist’s Laboratory, André Louis Victor Texier, 19th Century [10]

Paper: Friedrich Miescher and the discovery of DNA [38]

Friedrich Miescher was a Swedish scientist who aimed to study cell chemistry. By recovering pus-filled bandages from local hospitals, bandages which were rich in white blood cells, Miescher analyzed these bandages and isolated a material which was very rich in phosphorus from the pus (white blood cell) cells. By doing this, he discovered nuclein, which others later on built upon. This [[1] was a significant paradigm shift — the quest to discover the basis of life was heating up, and Miescher’s discovery of nuclein even before the 1900s was an accomplishment, and represented a paradigm shift [193] towards a now more molecularly-based science. The artwork above [10] is very relevant to Miescher’s experimentation — the art piece is entitled “Alchemist’s Laboratory,” which is representative of a paradigm shift. Previously, before things like the scientific method or before system science was very widespread, alchemy was quite popular [6] instead, with many alchemists studying things like transmutation. Now though, due to the previous paradigm shifts via events like Francis Bacon improving empirical science, a more modern era of science instead took hold. Miescher’s time saw the ushering in of a more molecular future era, an era where we are still attempting to make many more molecular discoveries. The scientific paper above [38] does a great job of summarizing the work that Miescher did to discover nuclein, and also adds more context to his discovery, as well, showing that a paradigm shift can be caused by just a curious mind willing to study some cells.