Using partition chromatography on columns packed with starch, in 1944 Synge started to establish the sequence of amino acids in peptides, leading to the structure elucidation of gramicidin S, a cyclic decapeptide (9–12). In the subsequent 10 years, Frederick Sanger at Cambridge University (Cambridge, United Kingdom) further advanced Synge's methodology, finally succeeding in the establishment of the sequence of the 51 amino acids forming the molecule of insulin (13). His achievements were recognized with the 1958 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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