Society

Societas biochemica, biophysica et microbiologica Fenniae, The Biobio Society, is a scientific society that promotes biochemical, biophysical, microbiological and related biological research in Finland.

Origins of the Society and current activity 

In Finland, the rise of modern biosciences began in the 1920s when Artturi I. Virtanen first brought the research of biochemistry to Finland. A.I. Virtanen additionally worked as the first professor of Biochemistry, first in the 1930s at Helsinki University of Technology and then after in the University of Helsinki during 1939-1948. At the time of receiving the Nobel Prize in 1945, Virtanen together with Professor Karl Olof Renkonen and Professor Unto Vartiovaara proposed the establishment of a Finnish Society for Microbiology. In fact, the founding meeting of the Society was held in the same year, and in 1946 the Societas microbiologica Fenniae was found. A few years later Biochemical Society, founded already in the 1930s, was incorporated to the Microbiology Society extending the biosciences more generally. From this moment on the name was established as Societas biochemica, biophysica et microbiologica Fenniae, more commonly known as the Biobio Society. A.I. Virtanen was the first chairman of this society. In addition to Virtanen, during the first decade of the society both the vice-chair Karl Olof Renkonen and Jorma K Miettinen were key figures in the origins of the Biobio Society.

The Biobio Society is a nationwide scientific non-profit organization promoting bioscience related research and public awareness. In addition to biochemistry, microbiology and biophysiscs, the Society also supports plant molecular biology, animal physiology, virology, nutrition research, glycobiology and proteomics. Within these fields are also basic medical research, environmental and food microbiology, cell biology and biotechnology research. Conjunctively, biotechnology and molecular biology are central to all of these fields. Nationally the Society has three division (Finnish Peptide Society, Finnish Glycoscience Network and Finnish Proteomics Society) and a community division, Bioscientific Society of Oulu.