Lafayette Benedict Mendel (February 5, 1872 – December 9, 1935) was an American biochemist known for his work in nutrition including the study of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, lysine and tryptophan. February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... A biochemist is a scientist trained and dedicated to producing results in the discipline of biochemistry. ... The updated USDA food pyramid, published in 2005, is a general nutrition guide for recommended food consumption. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Vitamin B is a complex of several vitamins. ... Lysine is one of the 20 amino acids normally found in proteins. ... Tryptophan is an amino acid and essential in human nutrition. ...

Mendel was born in Delhi, New York, son of Benedict Mendel, a merchant born in Aufhausen, Germany in 1833, and Pauline Ullman, born in Eschenau, Germany. His father immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1851, his mother in 1870. ^[1] Delhi is a town located in Delaware County, New York. ...

At 15, he won a New York State scholarship. Mendel studied classics, economics and the humanities, as well as biology and chemistry at Yale University and graduated with honors in 1891.^[2] “Yale” redirects here. ...

He then began graduate work at the Sheffield Scientific School on a fellowship and studied physiological chemistry under Russell Henry Chittenden. He finished his Ph.D. 1893 after only two years; his thesis topic was the synthesis of hemp-derived protein. Upon graduation, he began as an assistant at the Sheffield School in Physiological chemistry. He also studied in Germany and and was made an assistant professor on his return in 1896. He became a full professor in 1903 with appointments in the Yale School of Medicine and the Yale Graduate School as well as Sheffield. ^[1] The Sheffield Scientific School was founded as Yale Scientific School in 1854 and renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield. ... Physiological chemistry is the chemistry of the organs and tissues of the body, and of the various physiological processes incident to life. ... Russell Henry Chittenden, Ph. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Physiological chemistry is the chemistry of the organs and tissues of the body, and of the various physiological processes incident to life. ... The Yale School of Medicine is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut. ... This article is about the institution of higher learning in the United States. ...

Mendel wrote over 100 papers with his longtime collaborator Thomas B. Osborne of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (Mendel also had an appointment at the Station). In their early work, they studied the deadly poison ricin albumin from castor beans. Castor beans The protein ricin (pronounced ) is a toxin from the castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Binomial name Ricinus communis L. The castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) is a plant species of the Euphorbiaceae and the sole member of the genus Ricinus and of the subtribe Ricininae. ...

Their most important work involved the use of carefully controlled studies on rats to study the necessary elements in a healthy diet. They discovered Vitamin A in 1913 in butter fat (independently discovered by Elmer McCollum), as well as water soluble vitamin B in milk. They showed, for example, that a lack of Vitamin A in the diet led to xerophthalmia. They also established the importance of lysine and tryptophan in a healthy diet.^[3] This is an article about wild rats; for pet rats, see Fancy rat Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Associated with the discovery of Vitamin A, Elmer McCollum was a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin, who in 1913, along with colleague Marguerite Davis identified a fat-soluble nutrient in butterfat and cod liver oil[1]. McCollum and Davis research validated that of Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel, then... Vitamin B is a complex of several vitamins. ... Xerophthalmia (Greek for dry eyes) is a medical condition in which the eye doesnt produce tears. ... Lysine is one of the 20 amino acids normally found in proteins. ... Tryptophan is an amino acid and essential in human nutrition. ...

Mendel wrote many articles and published Changes in the Food Supply and Their Relation to Nutrition (1916) and Nutrition, the Chemistry of Life (1923).

Mendel received many honors during his career. He was made Sterling Professor at Yale in 1921. He was the first president of the American Institute of Nutrition. He was made a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1913. He won the gold medal of the American Institute of Chemists "for his outstanding contributions to chemistry" in 1927. He won the Conné Medal of the Chemist's Club of New York "for his outstanding chemical contributions to medicine" in 1935. A Sterling Professorship is the highest academic rank at Yale University, awarded to a tenured faculty member considered one of the best in his field. ... President Harding and the National Academy of Sciences at the White House, Washington, DC, April 1921 The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine. ...

Mendel married Alice R. Friend on July 29, 1917; they had no children. He died in 1935 of a heart condition after a long illness. His house in New Haven is National Historic Landmark.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Lafayette Benedict Mendel." World of Biology. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.
2. ^ Arthur H. Smith, "Lafayette B. Mendel, Companion in Research", American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 12(4):261-263.
3. ^ "Lafayette Benedict Mendel."Dictionary of American Biography, Supplements 1-2: To 1940. American Council of Learned Societies, 1944-1958. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.