"In suggesting that hydrogen bonds determined the three-dimensional configuration of proteins - and thus their biological specificity - Pauling and Mirsky enunciated a fundamental relation between molecular structure and biological function. It was also one of the cornerstones of Pauling's conception of molecular architecture, a metaphor and method for explaining life in health and disease, which would lend legitimacy to the molecular biology enterprise."

Lily E. Kay. The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Rise of the New Biology (New York: Oxford University Press). 1993.

"This was a fortunate arrangement. Not only did Mirsky teach me how to handle proteins in the laboratory - they are far more delicate than inorganic substances - but he also gave me a great amount of information about the properties of proteins and especially about denaturation of proteins."

Linus Pauling. "How My Interest in Proteins Developed." January 12, 1993.