BASIC RESEARCH AND THE STATE UNIVERSITY 



of you know, is now used widely in human j medicine. It is 

 particularly interesting to me — because it has involved a good 

 share of my scientific career — that the antipellagra factor, 

 niacin, was isolated by a group of workers, myself included, 

 who had never seen a human patient with the disease. I think 

 this story will also illustrate some other points I would like to 

 make. 



It was well established in the medical records that in the 

 nineteenth century some 5 per cent of the population in certain 

 countries died each year of pellagra. The first case was observed 

 in this country in 1863, and by 191 2 we had 30,000 cases with 

 40 per cent fatality. At first it was believed that pellagra was an 

 infectious disease. Then Dr. Joseph Goldberger demonstrated 

 to his own satisfaction, at least, that it was a disease caused by 

 nutritional inadequacy. These facts, however, would not have 

 seemed particularly pertinent to us in 1930 when we were 

 working to prepare a highly purified ration to feed animals, 

 one with which we could produce specific deficiencies by 

 leaving out one or another of the nutrients. 



When a natural ration was heated under moist conditions, 

 and fed to chicks, we obtained the typical dermatitis of pellagra, 

 known for manv vears in human beings and observed bv a 

 number of workers in dogs. This was the first time that the 

 efTect had been observed in so convenient a laboratory animal as 

 the chick, however, and we decided then and there that we 

 were on a particularly promising lead and that an important 

 problem would be the isolation of the antipellagra factor, with 

 the chick used as the experimental animal. 



Our plans were interrupted when I was granted a fellow- 

 ship and a leave of absence to study in England, and this in 

 itself is representative of the attitude of most administrations 

 toward scientists involved in basic research — it is important that 

 the individual be given every opportunity to broaden his knowl- 



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