IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature Abbreviations and Symbols for Chemical Names of Special Interest in Biological Chemistry

The Commission on the Nomenclature of Biological Chemistry decided in 1958 that an attempt should be made to standardize the abbreviations and symbols used for chemical names of special interest in biological chemistry. A Subcommittee, consisting of L. Hellerman, W. Klyne (Chairman), and E. C. Slater, was set up early in 1959 to deal with this problem. The original draft proposals were based on the notes given at the beginning of each number of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (1958 et seq.) and of the Suggestions to -l&hors of the Biochemical Journal (66, 1 (1957)). These drafts were circulated to members of the Nomenclature Commission, editors of chemical and biochemical journals, and interested specialists in many fields. The problems were discussed fully at the meeting of the Commission in Munich in September, 1959-and also in joint sessions with the Organic Nomenclature Commission and the Enzyme Commission of the International Union of Biochemistry (IUB). A third draft, incorporating the results of the Munich discussions, was widely circulated in December 1959, and many useful comments on this were received. A fourth draft, representing the “highest common factor” of all these comments and of many personal discussions, was prepared in August 1960, and circulated to members of the Commission on the Nomenclature of Biological Chemistry and to editors of some principal journals. The meeting of editors of biochemical journals called together by the President of IUB in Cambridge in September 1960 invited W. Klyne to attend part of their meeting. He explained the history and purpose of the memorandum on abbreviations; he emphasized that this work lies on the borderline between the provinces of the two Unions, and that agreement of both Unions in principle was therefore very desirable.