Research use only. All compounds are for laboratory research. Not for human or veterinary use. 21+.

A Short History of Peptide Science

Published July 27, 2026 · Research notes

By Vantage Research TeamReviewed against primary sourcesUpdated July 2026

Peptides have been at the center of biochemistry for over a century. The field’s key milestones run from the first laboratory synthesis of a peptide bond to the automation of peptide production that now supplies research compounds worldwide.

1902: The First Peptide Bond

The concept of the peptide bond, the covalent link between amino acids, was independently proposed by German chemist Emil Fischer and British physiologist Franz Hofmeister in 1902. In the same period, Fischer demonstrated that amino acids could be chemically joined in the laboratory, producing the first synthetic dipeptide: glycylglycine (two glycine amino acids joined by a peptide bond). This work established the fundamental chemistry that would underpin all future peptide research.

1921: Insulin, A Peptide That Changed Medicine

The most consequential peptide in medical history is insulin, isolated in 1921 by Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto. Insulin is a 51-amino-acid peptide hormone (arranged as two chains, A and B, connected by disulfide bridges) that regulates blood glucose in mammals. Its isolation transformed the treatment of diabetes and demonstrated that a peptide could have profound physiological effects at extremely low concentrations.

In 1953, Frederick Sanger completed the first full amino acid sequence of a protein: insulin. For this work, Sanger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958. Sequencing insulin was a landmark: it proved that proteins and peptides have defined, reproducible sequences, and established that sequence could be determined by chemical methods.

1963: Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS)

The method that made modern research peptides possible was invented by American chemist Robert Bruce Merrifield in 1963. Called solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), it builds a peptide chain one amino acid at a time while the growing chain remains anchored to a solid resin support. The key advances of the method:

  1. The growing peptide is attached to an insoluble resin bead, so it can be washed between each coupling step without loss of material
  2. Amino acids are added sequentially in the N→C terminal direction (reversed in classical solution synthesis)
  3. Each coupling and deprotection step can be automated, making it possible to build long, defined sequences reliably and at scale
  4. Once complete, the peptide is cleaved from the resin and purified by HPLC

Before SPPS, synthesizing even a short peptide required painstaking solution-phase chemistry with low yields and extensive purification at each step. SPPS changed this: chains of 20, 50, or more amino acids became routinely accessible. In 1984, Merrifield received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this invention.

Peptide Synthesis Today

Modern SPPS is automated, high-throughput, and capable of producing peptides with very high purity. For research-grade compounds, the process follows a defined sequence:

  1. Design: the amino acid sequence is specified based on the research compound’s known or proposed structure
  2. Assembly: automated synthesizers couple amino acids one at a time to the resin-anchored chain, with protecting groups removed at each step
  3. Cleavage and deprotection: the completed chain is removed from the resin and all protecting groups are stripped
  4. Purification: the crude peptide is purified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), separating the target compound from synthesis byproducts
  5. Analysis: purity is quantified by HPLC and molecular identity is confirmed by mass spectrometry; both results are documented in a Certificate of Analysis (COA)
  6. Lyophilization: the purified peptide solution is freeze-dried into a powder for stable storage and shipping

This workflow is the standard used to produce the research peptides available in today’s research-compound market, including all compounds supplied by Vantage Aminos.

References

Further Reference

For research use only. Not for human or veterinary use. Not approved by the FDA. 21+

All compounds described in Vantage Aminos research content are sold for laboratory and scientific research purposes only. Not for human or animal consumption. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition. For research use only.
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