Peptide Science
A Short History of Peptide Research
From Fischer's peptide bond to solid-phase synthesis to engineered multi-receptor analogues — a century of method driving discovery.
August 3, 2026 · 6 min read · Novanta Research
Foundations
Emil Fischer characterised the peptide bond at the turn of the twentieth century and synthesised the first short chains, establishing that proteins were amino acids joined in a defined order rather than an ill-defined colloid.
The isolation of insulin in the 1920s made the field practical, and Frederick Sanger's sequencing of insulin in the 1950s proved that a protein has one exact, reproducible sequence.
The synthesis revolution
Bruce Merrifield introduced solid-phase peptide synthesis in 1963, anchoring the growing chain to a resin so reagents could simply be washed away between steps. It converted synthesis from a specialist multi-month project into a routine, automatable process, and earned a Nobel Prize.
Reverse-phase HPLC and, later, electrospray mass spectrometry gave the field the tools to purify and verify what it was making.
The engineering era
Once sequences could be made reliably, attention turned to fixing their weaknesses: protease resistance through substitution, extended duration through lipidation, and deliberate multi-receptor design.
Contemporary dual and triple agonists are the product of that trajectory — molecules that no longer resemble any native hormone because they were designed around its limitations.
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For laboratory and research use only. Not for human or veterinary consumption. Novanta Research is not a compounding pharmacy and nothing in this article is medical advice or a claim that any compound diagnoses, treats, cures or prevents any condition.