Sir Archibald Edward Garrod was one of the first people to research inherited metabolic disorders. Garrod, who was born in 1857 and studied at Oxford University, suggested the idea that problems with the body's chemistry are caused by the abnormal functioning of an enzyme, which in turn is caused by a defect in a gene. The concept that a metabolic process takes place in which every gene causes an enzyme to stimulate a chemical reaction later became known as the "one gene-one enzyme theory." In 1909 Garrod wrote a book called Inborn Errors of Metabolism, which was considered a breakthrough in the field of inherited metabolic disease. He was knighted in 1918 and died on March 28, 1936.

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