Elizabeth Blackwell. (b. 1821, Bristol, England; d. 1910, Sussex, England) In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. The English-born physician opened the field for other women while founding important medical institutions such as the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857, and the National Health Society in 1871.
An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence or amount or the functional activity of a target entity (the analyte).
Enzymes are best measured not by their weight but by the work they are capable of doing. This is usually expressed in some form of activity unit as a measure of potency. Many enzymes can be assayed using methods that are internationally recognized. Use of these recognized assay procedures ensures that the methodology utilized can be reproduced to verify accuracy and legitimacy of the assay.