To coincide with the centenary of Otto Warburg’s description of tumour cells producing lactate even in the presence of oxygen, Endocrine-Related Cancer has focused on collecting papers dedicated to this finding and its overall impact.

All contributions here are worth reading, but we have decided to highlight the introductory article by Hardie. He takes us through the early life of Otto Warburg, including his early education, and learn how war ultimately hampered his progress. Fortunately, he returned to science, and this piece nicely showcases his studies on the metabolism of cancer cells through fermentation and respiration. It also highlights the range of techniques available at the time.

The article goes to show the lengths to which Warburg went to undertake a fundamental experiment which has shaped a lot of our physiological understanding to date. It shows a side of this work that I hadn’t truly appreciated before, and it should be required reading for anyone involved in the field of medicine.

Read the full article in Endocrine-Related Cancer.