In 1871, the Swiss physiological chemist Friedrich Miescher published the results of a detailed chemical analysis of pus cells, in which he showed that the nuclei of these cells contained a hitherto unknown phosphorus-rich chemical which he named ‘nuclein’ for its specific localisation. Published in German, ‘Ueber Die Chemische Zusammensetzung Der Eiterzellen’, [On the Chemical Composition of Pus Cells] Medicinisch-Chemische Untersuchungen (1871) 4: 441–60, was the first publication to describe DNA, and yet remains relatively obscure. We therefore undertook a translation of the paper into English, which, together with the original article, can be accessed via the following link https://doi.org/10.1017/S000708742000062X. In this paper, we offer some intellectual context for its publication and immediate reception.

1871年，瑞士生理化学家弗里德里希·米歇尔（Friedrich Miescher）发表了对脓细胞进行详细化学分析的结果，结果表明，这些细胞的细胞核中含有一种迄今未知的富含磷的化学物质，他将其命名为“核蛋白”，以进行特定的定位。在德国出版，“Ueber模具CHEMISCHE Zusammensetzung明镜Eiterzellen”，[开脓胞的化学组成] Medicinisch-CHEMISCHE Untersuchungen（1871）4：441-60，是描述DNA的第一本出版物，但仍然相对模糊。因此，我们将论文翻译成英文，并与原始文章一起通过以下链接https://doi.org/10.1017/S000708742000062X进行访问。在本文中，我们为其出版和立即接受提供了一些知识背景。