Research in starch biosynthesis is likely to have a great impact on agriculture and industry in coming years. Although the original purpose of research into starch synthesis was not industrial application, it is an example of how science, while trying to answer fundamental questions, may lead to the manipulation of nature for beneficial purposes. Although the basic studies of starch synthesis were carried out in England during the 1940s, and led to the discovery of phosphorylase and Q-enzyme (branching enzyme), the basis of our modern ideas originated in Argentina from the work of Luis F. Leloir and Carlos E. Cardini. They founded in 1947 the Institute for Biochemical Research.
