Enzyme Nomenclature

For many years there has been an almost continuous series of standing committees, organized by the International Union of Biochemistry or the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or both, dealing with nomenclature problems specific to biochemists. The present arrangement, described by Kurt Loening earlier in this symposium, is a Nomenclature Committee of I.U.B., and a Joint IUPAC/IUB Committee on Biochemical Nomenclature; the Committees have overlapping membership and normally meet in combined sessions. For most of the time such committees have existed, and certainly since the late 1950’s when I.U.B. set up the original Enzyme Commission under the Chairmanship of Malcolm Dixon, enzyme nomenclature has occupied more of their time than any other section of biochemical nomenclature. In this paper I hope to show why this is so.