Full text of DOI:10.1080/152165400410164

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IUBMB Life, 49: 331 337, 2000
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Copyright 2000 IUBMB
1521-6543/00 $12.00 + .00
This is the IUBMB
International Congresses of Biochemistry—Personal
Recollections
E. C. Slater
International Congresses of Biochemistry have been held ev- the only time I saw my teacher, David Keilin, at a meeting. He
ery 3 years without a break since the Ž rst in Cambridge, U.K., in sat in the front row and had a question or comment for every
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1949. Thus the Congress in Birmingham, U.K., on July 16 20, speaker. The discussions were free from the confrontational at-
2000 is the 18th of the series and the 2nd to be held in the U.K. mosphere that characterised this Ž eld in later years. The only
I have attended all except the 17th in San Francisco.
tense moment that I can recall was between Keilin and Hugo
Theorell, during the discussion of a paper by Chen-lu Tsou,
over the question of the molecular mass of cytochrome c.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF BIOCHEMISTRY
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When the Ž rst Congress was held, the 1939 1945 War had
( )
The origins of the Ž rst Congress are well documented 1 ,
ended only 4 years previously and the desire to renew contacts
was an important reason that so many countries were represented
at the Congress. Notably, however, there were no abstracts from
Germany or the USSR, but four German biochemists did attend
the Congress.
( )
( )
most recently by Kamminga 2 and Whelan 3 , who also at-
tended this meeting.
Fifty years ago, International ScientiŽ c Congresses were dif-
ferent in many respects from those held today. Most importantly,
they were attended by the leaders in the Ž eld who used the Con-
gresses to announce their latest Ž ndings. The attendance list at
the Congress in Cambridge reads like a list of Who’s Who in
biochemistry in 1949 or, indeed, in the third quarter of the 20th
century. The “Abstracts of Communications” includes the names
of no fewer than 21 holders or future winners of the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry or Physiology or Medicine.
The Ž rst Congress was not held in a Congress centre or hotel
complex, as is usually the case nowadays, but on a University
campus. Most of the participants lodged in rooms in the col-
leges and the talks were given in various lecture rooms around
the University. Although with 1700 registrants from 33 coun-
tries, the Congress cannot be considered a small meeting, there
were no professional organisers. Everything wastaken care of by
the Honorary OfŽ cers of the Biochemical Society and the staff
of the Biochemistry Laboratory under the leadership of Ernest
Baldwin.
1952–1958
The next three Congresses were all also held in Europe.
Paris was the natural choice for the Second Congress in 1952,
because the Socie´te´ de Chimie Biologique had organised a series
(
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of Congresses, the most recent the 8th in 1947, to which many
foreign participants were invited and which could be considered
the forerunners of the International Congresses of Biochemistry.
The chief organiser of the Second International Congress was
Jean Courtois, who had organised the 1947 Congress of the
Socie´te´ de Chimie Biologique.
The meeting was held in the Sorbonne, with a most impres-
sive Opening Ceremony in the Amphithe´aÇtre. Gabriel Bertrand,
a Ž gure out of the 19th century and originator of the word “ox-
idase” gave the opening talk. There were four Plenary Lectures
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Confe´rences , given by J. N. Davidson UK , A. L. Oparine
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USSR , S. Ochoa USA , and K. Linderstrøm-Lang Denmark ,
The format of the Congress also differed from that of cur-
rent meetings. There were three Plenary Lectures, by Carl Cori
and seven symposia, including one entitled “Tricarboxylic Acid
(
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Cycle,” in which Hans Krebs UK tried unsuccessfully to per-
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USA , Marcel Florkin Belgium —later to become the Ž rst
suade his audience that the Krebs cycle is not operative in yeast.
(
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(
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President of IUB—and Robert Robinson UK , but there were
no symposia with invited speakers or poster sessions. All con-
tributions were placed in the appropriate session. Of course, as
today, there were a number of simultaneous sessions, but in the
session on Biological Oxidations that I attended, the atmosphere
was relaxed with 20 min allowed for each presentation. This was
During this symposium I. C. Gunsalus USA announced the
structure of lipoic acid and its function in the oxidation of pyru-
vate and 2-oxoglutarate. Another notable symposium was on
the Biogenesis of Proteins with L. Pauling and K. Linderstrøm-
Lang as Presidents and Jacques Monod as Secretary. Unfortu-
nately, Monod did not supply a report of this symposium for the
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Comptes Rendus, so we are deprived of reading the state of the represented. The symposium called simply “Proteins” chaired
art in this Ž eld one year before the double helix. In addition to by H. Neurath and H. Tuppy contained contributions from J. C.
the symposia, there were no fewer than 31 sections for shorter Kendrew, M. Perutz, F. Crick, V. M. Ingram, and H. E. Huxley.
communications. The total registrants were 2357 and included,
FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF BIOCHEMISTRY
The Fifth Congress held in Moscow in 1961 was remarkable
in several respects. Although biochemists had by now become
now that the political situation was becoming more normal, 166
from Germany and 17 from Eastern Europe, including 6 from
the USSR.
The Third Congress in Brussels in 1955, organised by Claude world travellers, the Soviet Union was still new territory for
(
Lie´becq, was in 17 sections, each composed of “reports” pre- many. During the week preceding the Congress, the IUB Bu-
)
(
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printed by invited speakers, followed by invited discussants reau as the Executive Committee was then named and many
and free communications, either presented in 20 min or read European biochemists travelled in the USSR liner M.V. Estonia
by title only. There were also seven “conferences.” Apart from from London to Leningrad. There they were greeted wharfside
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Plenary Lectures by C. Martius Germany and V. du Vigneaud by the organiser of the Congress, Professor N. M. Sissakian,
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USA at the opening and closing ceremonies given in the Palais and by Professor V. A. Engelhardt, whose name is enshrined in
(
des Beaux Arts, all lectures were given in lecture halls of the the history of biochemistry as the discoverer of the main quan-
) (
titatively pathway of ATP synthesis oxidative phosphoryla-
University of Brussels.
)
(
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I do not have Ž gures for the total number of registrants. Up to tion and of its hydrolysis myosin . An overnight train journey
3 months before the Congress was held, 1100 had registered, brought them early in the morning to a Moscow decked with
»
suggesting that the total number was less than in Paris. A no-  ags and banners, not in honour of the world’s biochemists, but
table late arrival was Yin-lai Wang from China, who announced in celebration of the successful journey of the USSR’s second
simultaneously with Tom Singer that succinate dehyrogenase is astronaut, Titov. Some of us were able to slip into the parade
a  avoprotein. I was mainly preoccupied with my own “rapport” of Muscovites just as it was entering Red Square to pass under
on respiratory-chain phosphorylation. I have no recollection of Titov, Yuri Gagarin, Krushchev, and other dignitaries standing
any outstanding announcements at this Congress. Crick’s name on the balcony of the National Memorial.
appears among the registrants but not among the authors. Ex-
The coincidence of the two events caused some problems
cept for O. Maalø, who gave prominence to Watson and Crick’s with the hotel accommodation, despite earlier reservation, and
“suggestive model” in his paper on “the genetic signiŽ cance of later in the week the proceedings of the Congress were enlivened
viral DNA,” the papers on protein synthesis at this meeting in- by a press conference, given by Titov, presided over by Professor
dicate that the genetic implications of their model had not yet Keldysh, President of the Academy of Sciences, in the hall of
penetrated this Ž eld.
When it was decided to hold the Fourth Congress in Vienna symposia of the Congress being held in the same hall.
in 1958, this city was still divided into different sectors under the Owing to the general news blackout, most of the participants
Moscow University, which interrupted the sessions of one of the
control of the occupying powers from the end of the War, made at the Congress were unaware that while they were in Moscow,
famous by the Ž lm “The Third Man”, which would have made it relations between the USSR and the West had reached a critical
more difŽ cult to organise a large Congress. However, by the time pointwith theerection of theBerlin Wall. Some of us returning to
(
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the meeting was held in 1958, the city had been handed back London on the S.S. Baltica with a stop in Rostock then in DDR
to the Austrian authorities. The Congress, organised by Otto were aware of this, which made for a somewhat tense passage.
Hoffmann-Ostenhof, contained 12 symposia, 6 colloquia, and Several found that their return  ights had been cancelled and
18 sections for short communications held in different buildings had to stay an extra night in Moscow.
of the University near the centre of Vienna. At the opening and
Amid all the excitement, the Congress followed a more or
closing sessions, respectively, Plenary Lectures were given by less normal course. The Opening Ceremony, which was held
(
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(
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E. Chargaff USA and A. E. Braunstein USSR , respectively. in the enormous Lenin Stadium, included a Plenary Lecture
(
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About 2500 full members had registered 2 months before the by D. E. Green USA . A second Plenary Lecture was given by
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meeting, making it probable that the total attendance was in F. Sorm Czechoslovakia at the Closing Ceremony. Uncorrected
the vicinity of 3000, the largest to date. What stands out in proofs of all symposium talks were distributed as preprints and
my memory is the simultaneous announcement by chemists at the edited talks together with discussion comments were pub-
Merck and Hoffmann-La Roche of the structure of ubiquinone, lished by Pergamon Press in separate volumes, following the
since these announcements were made during the discussion of same pattern as in Vienna. The subsequent discovery that some
my paper!
of the uncorrected preprints had been published in a Pergamon
The complete Proceedings of the Congress, including the journal, without permission of either the author or the editor of
full papers presented at the symposia and colloquia, the Plenary the symposium proceedings, caused IUB to break off relations
Lectures, and the abstractsofthesectional paperswere published with Pergamon for many years.
in 15 volumes by Pergamon Press.
The scientiŽ c highlight of the Congress was the announce-
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( )
This was the Ž rst International Congress of Biochemistry ment by M. W. Nirenberg USA that the addition of poly U
where what was becoming known as molecular biology was well to a cell-free protein-synthesising system led to the synthesis of

333
THIS IS THE IUBMB
polyphenylalanine, a discovery that opened up the elucidation
of the genetic code.
Although it was not ideal to have to split the Congress into
threecentres, it wasagreat achievementof theSwissbiochemists
to have organised a successful Congress at such short notice and
with limited facilities and Ž nance. I for one enjoyed it tremen-
dously. Apart from participating in the then vigorous discussions
in my own Ž eld, I remember watching in Lucerne on the televi-
sion link Max Perutz in Interlaken showing the ligand-induced
movements in haemoglobin. This was the Ž rst occasion when, to
help the start-up of the Congress, IUB advanced a loan out of its
small funds. It was also the Ž rst time that Statute 8.6,1 intended
to deal with a crisis occurring between General Assemblies, was
invoked. I do not have any Ž gures on the number of participants.
THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH CONGRESSES—THE LAST
OF THE MAMMOTH CONGRESSES?
In 1964, the Congressmoved acrosstheAtlantictoNew York.
The meeting was held in two modern hotels with Congress fa-
cilities, a departure from the practice hitherto of holding the
scientiŽ c sessions in University lecture rooms. Also, for the Ž rst
time, the organisers gave generous grants to help the attendance
of young foreign biochemists, and about a dozen of my grad-
uate and postgraduate students took advantage of this offer to
make their Ž rst visit to the USA. This, combined with the rel-
ative prosperity of the USA, its leading role in biochemistry,
and the efŽ cient organization of the meeting by Stanford Moore
BACK TO NORMAL
The Ninth Congress in Stockholm returned to the normal pat-
tern with about 4500 participants. It was the Ž rst to be held in
a Congress Hall. For the Ž rst time, IUB provided funds to en-
able 14 young biochemists to attend the Congress. I was taken
aback by a delegate who, instead of praising this initiative, crit-
icised us for providing so few. Support from IUBMB funds for
young scientists to attend the Congresses has been repeated at
every Congress: at the 18th Congress, the Federation of Euro-
(
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ensured a large attendance about 7000 .
The number of Plenary Lectures at this congress was in-
creased to six, four at the Opening Ceremony and two at the clos-
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ing. These were given by L. F. Leloir Argentina , O. Hayaishi
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Japan , S. E. Severin USSR , E. Lederer France , E.
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Katchalsky Israel , and F. H. C. Crick UK .
The programme was the usual mixture of symposia and free
communications covering the whole Ž eld of biochemistry and
molecular biology. The logo of this Congress was the double
helix.
The Seventh Congress, held in Tokyo in a very warm Au-
gust in 1967, was organised very much on the lines of the
Sixth Congress. It was also held in large modern hotels. Ple-
(
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pean Biochemical Societies FEBS , the Biochemical Society,
and IUBMB are jointly funding 120 young scientists. A part of
this programme is Ž nanced by the interest from a fund bearing
the name of Hugo Theorell, President of the Ninth Congress,
donated to IUBMB from the proŽ ts of the Congress and held in
IUBMB’s Endowment Funds. Starting with the 12th Congress
in Perth, Australia, on the initiative of Peter Campbell, those
receiving the awards were brought together a few days before
the Congress to meet together, present their work to one another,
and attend lectures by senior biochemists.
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nary Lectures were given by H. G. Khorana USA , F. B. Straub
(
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Hungary , E. P. Kennedy USA , and D. C. Philips UK in
the Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall and the National Theatre.
David Philips described the X-ray structure of lysozyme, the
Ž rst enzyme for which a three-dimensional structure was de-
termined. About 4000 active members attended this Congress,
including 2600 from abroad.
In addition to four Plenary Lectures given by B. S. Hartley
(
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(
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UK , G. E. Palade USA , E. C. Slater The Netherlands , and S.
(
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Spiegelman USA , two evening sessions with the title Frontiers
in Biochemistry were held, intended to inform nonbiochemists
of the developmentsintheŽ eld; thespeakerswere C. Weissmann
(
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(
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(
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Switzerland , E. L. Smith USA , A. L. Lehninger USA , and
THE EIGHTH CONGRESS—AN ALPINE RESCUE
(
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H. L. Kornberg UK . A similar programme has since formed
a part of a number of the subsequent Congresses. What also
became a permanent feature of IUBMB Congresses was the
programme on Teaching and Careers in Biochemistry, arranged
by P. N. Campbell UK . A third novum was the replacement of
short communications by posters, by then a common practice at
scientiŽ c meetings,
The programme of the 10th Congress, held in a Congress
centre in Hamburg in 1976, was similar to that of the 9th Con-
gress. Plenary Lectures were given by P. Reichard Sweden ,
At the end of the Seventh Congress, Professor Cerletti invited
the participants to the Eighth Congress in Rome in 1970. It was
at that time thought by many that this would be the last large
(
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Congress see below . In any event, it did not take place. Owing
to the disruption in European universities by the students’ ac-
tivists in the late 1960s, the organisers were unable to proceed
with the preparations for a Congress in Rome. Frank Young,
then the Treasurer of IUB, persuaded the Swiss biochemists,
at only 1 year’s notice, to Ž ll the gap. Because no single cen-
tre could cope with the large numbers expected, the Congress
was held inthree centres—Interlaken, Lucerne, and Montreux—
linked by television. Four symposia each were held in Interlaken
and Montreux and two in Lucerne. Owing to the circumstances,
there were no Plenary Lectures, nor, so far as I can remember,
were any short communications given outside the 10 symposia.
(
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1The President may decide, after consultation with other ofŽ cers as may
seem to be desirable, upon matters within the competence of the Union in order
to ensure the smooth develoment of the day-to-day activities of the Union. Such
decisions shall be reported to the next meeting of the Executive Committee.

334
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2
I do not remember and I have no data to calculate the Ž gures
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G. M. Edelman USA , D. C. Philips UK , and J. Adler USA .
Although Ihavenoinformationaboutthenumberof participants,
the more than 3000 abstracts in the Abstract Book indicates that
it was also a large meeting.
for the total attendance, but it was certainly a large meeting,
held in a Congress centre at the southern edge of the city, or-
ganised in 12 symposia and 12 colloquia, as well as the by now
usual poster sessions. To mark theoccasion, Elsevier Science en-
dowed an additional IUBMB-endowed Plenary Lecture, named
in my honour. This, together with the Feodor Lynen Memorial
Lecture and the FEBS Lecture, now a permanent feature of the
Congresses, made a total of six Plenary Lectures, given that year
The 11th Congress was held in Ž ve downtown hotels in
Toronto connected by a frequent shuttle bus service. This wasthe
Ž rst occasion when IUB sponsored a Plenary Lecture, namely,
the Chester Beatty Lecture Ž nanced by an Endowment Fund set
up by a gift from Mr. Alfred Chester Beatty of London. This lec-
ture wasgiven at the Opening Ceremony by P. Handler, President
of the US National Academy of Sciences. Other Plenary Lec-
(
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(
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(
by R. A. Weinberg USA , D. E. Koshland USA , P. Borst The
)
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Netherlands , G. K. Radda UK , T. Sugimura Japan , and H. G.
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Wood USA .
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tures were given by A. Kornberg USA , E. Katchalski-Katzir
Re ecting the interest of young biochemists in The Nether-
lands with the social consequences of scientiŽ c research, three
meetings were held open to the public: Impact of Recombinant
DNA Research on Man and Society; The Long-Term Biological
Consequences of Nuclear War; and an Open Meeting to form an
International Committee Against the Military use of Biological
Warfare.
There was also a large Educational Programme, including
the demonstration of computer-aided instruction and a Ž lm and
video show.
For the 14th Congress, IUBMB moved for the second time
east of what was still the Iron Curtain, to the Palace of Culture
in Prague. It was a very large Congress with nearly 5000 names
in the list of participants. Its organisation was similar to that of
the 13th Congress, although with a somewhat smaller number
of symposia and colloquia. In addition to the six named Ple-
nary Lectures given in Amsterdam, two locally supported lec-
tures in honour of J. Hevrovsky¨ and J. E. Purkyneˆ were added.
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Israel , V. P. Skulachev USSR , and G. Schatz Switzerland .
This Congress was about as large as the 9th and 10th Congresses
with nearly 4000 abstracts.
For the 12th Congress, IUB moved south of the equator to
Perth in Western Australia. Because Congresses are always held
during the University summer vacations in the northern hemi-
sphere where the large majority of biochemists live, it was a new
experience on this occasion for them to meet among the early
spring  owers, many unknown in the northern hemisphere, for
which Perth isfamous. Partly owing tothe great distance of Perth
from all parts of the world, including even the most populous
parts of Australia, but also because of the economic recession
in 1982 in the Western world, attendance at this Congress was
lower than at the previous Congresses. Sessions were held in
a downtown hotel and at the University of Western Australia
where a large tent was erected for the exhibition area.
A feature of this Congress was the expansion of the number
of Plenary Lectures to seven. One of the main purposes of the
Congresses is to give the opportunity for young biochemists to
see and hear the leaders in their science, and a Plenary Lecture
is an excellent medium for this. IUB had by now received en-
dowments to support two more lectures to add to the Chester
Beatty Lecture, namely, the Osamu Hayaishi Lecture endowed
by Suntory Limited and the Severo Ochoa Lecture endowed by
Hoffmann La Roche Inc., in honour of two former Presidents. In
addition a Feodor Lynen Memorial Lecture wassponsored by the
Gesellschaft fu¨r Biologische Chemie and the German pharma-
ceutical industry, and additional lectures for the 12th Congress
were sponsored by The Rural Industries Bank in Australia, the
Australian Biochemical Society, and the FAOB. Unfortunately,
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The eight speakers were R. J. P. Williams UK , K. Martinek
(
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(
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Czechoslovakia , T. Murachi Japan , D. Oesterhelt Germany ,
(
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G. Semenza Switzerland , H. M. Temin USA , T. R. Cech
(
)
(
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USA , and A. N. Bystrov USSR .
During the meeting, a panel discussion on “equal opportuni-
(
ties for women” a recurrent theme at international Congresses
)
since the Ninth in Stockholm was held, and a reception was
given by the International Association of Women in Biochem-
(
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istry in honour of Elizabeth Neufeld USA and Sarah Ratner
(
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USA . Included in the symposium programme was one on new
concepts in the teaching of biochemistry.
The 15th Congress in Jerusalem was the second one that
nearly did not happen, in this case owing to the outbreak of
hostilities in the Gulf region during which missiles were Ž red
at Israel. I was then President of IUBMB and, as I stated at the
Opening Ceremony:
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for reasons described below, Y. A. Ovchinnikov USSR was un-
able to deliver his lecture. The other six were given by P. Leder
(
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USA , J. R. Knowles USA , S. Numa Japan , M. D. Hatch
(
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(
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Australia , K. Yagi Japan , and C. Weissmann Switzerland .
The 13th Congress in Amsterdam shares a special place in
It is more than a usual pleasure to be able to welcome all of you to
this 15th Congress of the International Union of Biochemistry, since
for some time since last summer and particularly earlier this year, it
seemed likely that the Congress would have to be at least postponed
or moved to another location if not cancelled. Happily, the situation
improved sufŽ ciently and in time for the preparations to go ahead
for the Congress here in Jerusalem at the time originally Ž xed.
Were it not the un agging steadfastness and optimism of Dr.
Littauer and his colleagues, apparently in deŽ ance of all reason but
(
my memory, together with the 1st in Cambridge where I was
)
(
)
then working and the 12th in the country of my birth , in that
the last day of the meeting marked my retirement after more
than 30 years from my chair at the University of Amsterdam.
2He and E. Katchalski-Katzir are the only speakers to have given two Plenary
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Lectures at IUB MB Congresses.

335
THIS IS THE IUBMB
one in the Middle East, and 10 in Europe. None was held in
Central or South America or in Africa. In 1997, IUBMB entered
justiŽ ed by events, it is not unlikely that this Congress would have
been prematurely postponed or cancelled. We owe them a special
debt of gratitude for their fortitude in trying circumstances and for
preparing such a feast of biochemistry for us.
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new or old? ground by turning for a second time to the USA, a
pattern of “the second-time round” that will be repeated in 2000
(
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UK , 2003 Canada , and 2006 Japan . The decision to accept
In fact, after the start of the land war in the middle of January
1991, after consultation with my colleagues, I told Uri Littauer
that if the shooting had not stopped before February 1, the
Congress would have at least to be postponed. In the days be-
an invitation to host a Congress is taken de facto 7 years before
the Congress. Those who wish to issue an invitation for 2009
should begin to make their preparations quite soon.
(
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fore e-mail only 9 years ago! , urgent discussions had to take
placeby telephone, one at leastduring a SCUD missileswarning.
Fortunately, developments outside our control were such that the
deadline was met with days to spare and a happy and success-
ful Congress ensued in Jerusalem—although, under the circum-
stances, it was not surprising that the attendance was down com-
pared with the previous two Congresses. The meeting was held
in the Jerusalem Convention Centre and the Jerusalem Hilton.
The programme included the same six named Plenary Lectures
that formed part of the 13th Congress, which were given by P.
RELATION BETWEEN IUB(MB) AND THE
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES OF BIOCHEMISTRY
Role of IUB(MB) in Organisation of the Congresses
All International Congresses of Biochemistry after the Ž rst
one have been held under the auspices of the International Union
of Biochemistry, whose role was initially restricted to accept-
(
ing the invitation of the host Adhering Body or to choosing
)
between different invitations . Apart from providing its Plenary
(
)
(
)
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)
Berg USA , T. L. Blundell UK , A. E. Clarke Australia , Y.
Lecturers and travel fellowships for young scientists to attend
the Congress, IUBMB has not normally Ž nanced the Congress.
Exceptions have been a small start-up loan to the organisers
of the 8th Congress in Switzerland and, together with FEBS and
the Biochemical Society, a substantial grant to the organisers of
the 18th Congress, returnable out of any proŽ ts.
(
)
(
)
(
)
Nishizuku Japan , B. Sakmann Germany , and R. Tjan USA .
Seven satellite meetingswereheld before and after the Congress,
one in Moscow, one in Sweden, and Ž ve in Israel.
An especially successful meeting of the IUB travel fellows
was held in Jerusalem just before the Congress.
For the 16th Congress in 1994, the now-renamed IUBMB
turned once again to Asia, namely, to New Delhi. I was person-
ally much less involved in this Congress than in the previous
15. It was already 9 years after my retirement and, as I thought,
my days of involvement in IUBMB were over. However. Pro-
fessor Appaji Rao kindly invited me to attend the Congress and
to participate in the pre-Congress meeting of the IUBMB travel
fellows. I thoroughly enjoyed what I thought a very success-
ful Congress attended by a large number of young Indian bio-
chemists. To me, it resembled the earlier Congresses and I mean
that in a positive not a negative sense. The six named Plenary
Until 1979, the organisation of the Congress was left entirely
in the hands of the host country. IUB started to take a more
direct interest in the programme when the Executive Committee
learned of the very large proportion of speakers invited to the
11th Congress in Toronto who were from the United States.
Given the preponderance both quantitatively and qualitatively
of the USA in biochemistry, this was understandable, but it went
counter to IUB’s aim of a more equitable representation in its
affairs of biochemists from all over the world. In this instance,
the problem was alleviated by additional invitations, but it has
remained a potential source of tension, reaching its climax in
1997, when one Adhering Body threatened to withdraw from the
Union over this issue. A member of the Executive Committee
is now charged with liasing with the organisers, and guidelines
have been issued describing the obligations of the two parties.
(
)
(
)
Lectureswere givenby I. M.Verma USA , T. Taniguchi Japan ,
(
)
(
)
(
)
E. G. Krebs USA , M. Salas Spain , N.-H. Chua USA , and
(
)
R. Huber Germany .
The 17th Congress was held in San Francisco in 1997. Be-
cause this was the only Congress that I did not attend but many
readers had done so, I shall not include this Congress in my
account, except to record that, for the Ž rst time, the Congress
was held in conjunction with a meeting of the local biochemi-
cal society, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molec-
ular Biology. The 18th Congress will also be a joint meeting,
this time with the FEBS, the regional associated organisation of
IUBMB. It is expected that this pattern will be followed at the
IUB(MB) Assemblies
The International Congresses of Biochemistry predated the
formation of IUB, which was not admitted to the International
(
)
( )
Council of ScientiŽ c Unions ICSU until 1955 4 .
IUB’s Statutes require that its Assembly, the meeting of the
delegates from the Adhering Bodies, shall take place once ev-
ery 3 years and shall normally be held in association with an
International ScientiŽ c Meeting arranged under the auspices of
the International Union of Biochemistry. All except the Ž rst of
the 16 General Assemblies held to date have been in association
(
19th Congress in Toronto jointly with the Pan-American Asso-
)
ciation for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the 20th
(
in Kyoto jointly with the Federation of Asian and Oceanian
)
Biochemists and Molecular Biologists .
Between 1949 and 1994, 16 Congresses were held in different with an International Congress of Biochemistry, usually on an
afternoon in the middle of the Congress that was kept free from
countries: two in North America, two in Asia, one in Australia,

336
SLATER
the scientiŽ c meetings.3 Important decisions, including, for ex-
ample, the locations of future Congresses, were announced at
the Closing sessions.
policy of apartheid. In 1979, a way was found that allowed the
two biochemical societies in the two parts of China separated by
( )
the Taiwan Strait to be represented in IUB 5 . The agreement in
principle was reported to the 10th General Assembly in Toronto
in 1979, although it was not until the following year that names
of the two Adhering Bodies were agreed.
IUB(MB) Conferences
During the Sixth Congress the IUB Committee on Interna-
(
)
The 11th Assembly was faced with a difŽ cult problem shortly
before the start of the Congress in Perth, Australia, when it was
learned that the Australian Government had refused visas for the
delegation from the USSR, including one of the Plenary Lectur-
ers, Y. Ovchinnikov, in violation of the resolution of ICSU on
freedom of travel for scientists. Vigorous efforts by the Execu-
tive Committee to obtain a reversal of this decision at the high-
tional Symposia Chairman P. Handler , on the basis of rec-
ommendations from the US National Committee for IUB, pro-
posed a new pattern of IUB-sponsored scientiŽ c meetings, in
that they should be smaller in size and scope but more frequent
than the triennial Congresses. SpeciŽ cally it recommended that
IUB should sponsor a series of annual symposia devoted to a
speciŽ c coherent area of biochemistry. After referral to the Na-
tional Committees and debate at the 6th General Assembly in est level in time for the delegation to  y to Australia foundered
on the approaching weekend in Canberra and the fact that the
Australian Prime Minister had just returned from China with a
bad cold. The positive result of these efforts was that the Aus-
tralian government later apologised to the USSR delegation and
that other International Congresses scheduled for Australia did
not have the same problem. In the meantime, the Ordinary Gen-
eral Assembly was faced with the question of whether decisions
taken when the delegates of one of its members were prevented
from attending the Assembly were valid. It was resolved that the
votes on all resolutions be placed in sealed envelopes and that
the Assembly not be closed in Perth, but adjourned and recon-
vened two weeks later in Moscow with the General Secretary
representing those attending the Perth meeting. At this meeting,
the delegates of the USSR voted on the various resolutions, and
their votes, also in sealed envelopes, were added to those col-
lected in Perth. Subsequently, these were opened and the results
of the ballots communicated to all delegates.
Tokyo, it was decided that Congresses with unlimited numbers
are acceptable where possible, and that the 3-year cycle should
be retained so that the work of the General Assembly could
proceed normally.
Handler’s idea was revived but in a different form by A. W.
Linnane in the late 1980s. His proposal, which was adopt-
ed by IUB, was to hold Conferences in non-Congress years.
The scope of the Conferences was envisaged to be between
those of Congresses, which should still cover the whole Ž eld
of biochemistry, and the limited topic of a symposium. The Ž rst
Conference was held in Nagoya, Japan, in 1992, and the most
recent, the 6th, in Seoul in 1999. It has in practice been difŽ cult
to persuade the organisers to limit the scope of these Confer-
ences and not turn them into mini-Congresses, and some have
experienced Ž nancial problems.
International Politics
In its early years, IUB was confronted with problems aris-
ing from political disputes over the recognition of countries or
of separate parts of a recently divided country. The Ž rst arose
from the acceptance by IUB in 1961 of Taiwan as a member,
which led to the withdrawal from the union in 1965 of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China. In 1964 in New York the Fifth General
Assembly accepted the Democratic Republic of Germany as a
member in addition to the Federal Republic of Germany. Since
the reuniŽ cation of those countries Germany is represented by
a single biochemical society.
AttheSixth GeneralAssembly inTokyoin1967, newStatutes
were adopted in which an Adhering Body is described not as a
country but as a “scientiŽ c community,” applicable to the bio-
chemists of a country or of an otherwise deŽ ned geographical
area that has an independent budget for scientiŽ c purposes. This
made it easier attheNinth GeneralAssembly in1976 for IUBMB
to accept South Africa as a member at a time when the country
as a whole was boycotted by a large part of the world for its
Statutes
At nearly every General Assembly, changes were made in
the Statutes originally adopted by the First General Assembly in
( )
1955 4 . A major revision was made at the Sixth General As-
sembly inTokyo in1967 on the basis of the report of a committee
(
)
led by F. G. Young. In 1973 or 1976 I am not sure which , IUB
was designated a legal entity with residence in Amsterdam in
The Netherlands. Also in 1976, a new class of membership, the
Associate Adhering Body, was introduced to permit biochemi-
cal communities who are not Ž nancially in the position to pay
even a minimum subscription to join the Union.
The OfŽ cers, originally consisting of the President, General
Secretary, and Treasurer, were expanded in 1961 to include a
(
)
Vice President later changed to President-Elect and the im-
mediate Past President. Until 1982, the work of the Union was
governed by the General Assembly, a Council, the Executive
(
)
Committee composed of the OfŽ cers , the OfŽ cers, and the
various committees. Statute 3.2 stated:
3The General Assembly was not created until after the Second Congress. Its
–
Ž rst meeting was held in London on January 5 6, 1955, and the second during
the Third Congress in Brussels later that year. Since then the nth Assembly
The work of the Union shallbe directed by the GeneralAssembly,
which is composed of delegates appointed by the Adhering Bodies
together with the OfŽ cers.
(
)
+
has been held at the n 1 th Congress. Thus the 17th General Assembly is
associated with the 18th IUBMB Congress in Birmingham in July 2000.

337
THIS IS THE IUBMB
The Council was composed of the OfŽ cers together with not Committee” and Statute 3.4 is abolished. Apart from the col-
more thannine memberselected by theGeneral Assembly. Itwas lective responsibility of the Executive Committee to the Gen-
required to meet, on summons from the Executive Committee, eral Assembly, the Treasurer has an individual responsibility to
not less than once every 3 years, normally 1 year before the the General Assembly and the Executive Committee for all the
General Assembly. Its function was described in Statutes 3.3 Ž nancial affairs of the Union.
and 3.4.
At the 16th Ordinary General Assembly in Jerusalem in1991,
it was resolved to change the name of the Union to the Interna-
tional Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Thus IUB
became IUBMB. At the same time, in the interests of continuity
of function, it was resolved to alter the date of the change in
Treasurer and General Secretary from the close of the Ordinary
General Assembly to January 1 of the following year.
3.3. The Council of the Union shall be the body with continuing
responsibility for the affairs of the Union and shall be answerable to
the General Assembly in this respect.
3.4. The OfŽ cers, Executive Committee and all committees . . .
shall in the Ž rst instance be answerable to the Council.
The second major revision of the Statutes was made at an
Extraordinary General Assembly in Perth, Australia, in 1982.
This revision encompassed a radical change in the method of
governance by fusing the Council with the Executive Commit-
tee. At the same time, the post of Past- President was abolished
and an additional Ž ve posts, with speciŽ c functions, were added
to the Executive Committee. A new body, the Nominating Com-
mittee, was set up to prepare nominations to Ž ll vacancies on
the Executive Committee, a function previously performed by
the now defunct Council.
REFERENCES
(
)
1. Thompson, R. H. S. 1963 The International Union of Biochemistry. ICSU
–
Rev. World Sci. 5, 142 146.
2. Kamminga, H. 1999 Internationalizing biochemistry: the 1949 Congress in
context. Trends Biochem. Sci. 24, 404 408.
3. Whelan, W. J. 1999 50 years ago: the Ž rst International Congress of Bio-
(
)
–
(
)
–
chemistry. IUBMB Life 48, 5 6.
(
)
4. Slater, E. C. 1980 The uncertain birthday of IUB. Trends Biochem. Sci.
–
( )
5 7 , vii viii.
The structure of the governance of the Union is, therefore,
essentially that of a parliamentary democracy, where the Parlia-
ment is the General Assembly and the Executive Committee the
Cabinet, with each member holding a speciŽ c portfolio, which
(
)
5. Slater, E. C., and Whelan, W. J. 1980 China to rejoin the IUB. Trends
–
( )
Biochem. Sci. 5 2 , iii v.
(
)
are at present for Symposia and Interest Groups Vito Turk , Ed-
(
)
(
)
)
ucation Leopoldo de Meis , Publications Angelo Azzi , Con-
E. C. Slater
9 Oaklands
(
(
gresses and Conferences William Lennarz , and ICSU Yashiro
)
Anraku .
In the 1982 Statutes, “OfŽ cers” in the old Statute 3.2 and
“Council” in the old Statute 3.3 are replaced by “Executive
Lymington
Hampshire SO41 3TH, UK
E-mail: ecslater@btinternet.com