A photo-essay of the life and times of Herbert Remmer with his friends.

There are many wonderful memories one can relate about Herbert Remmer. He was a dedicated scientist, an excellent colleague, and a distinctive character in the international field of drug metabolism and toxicology. This article describes my first meeting in 1964 with Herbert Remmer. The article highlights his seminal contributions to our understanding of cytochrome P450 induction and the associated changes in the morphological contributions of the endoplasmic reticulum of the liver and the role of P450 as it relates to drug interactions as the initial step in drug metabolism. Also described are results of experiments carried out in 1964 when Herbert Remmer visited our laboratory at the Johnson Foundation of the University of Pennsylvania. It was these spectrophotometric experiments, showing spectral changes associated with the binding of drugs to liver microsomal P450 (with John Schenkman), that laid the foundation for our current understanding of the cyclic mechanism of P450 function during the metabolism of a great variety of xenobiotics. Herbert Remmer will be remembered as a frequent actor on the world stage of science. This article includes some of the many pictures I have in my files of Herbert Remmer and his friends as we traveled to exotic venues for scientific discussions of drug metabolism, toxicology, and risk assessment.