Evening star., 1945-12-15
Disease Prevention
by Diet May Follow
Recent Discoveries
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

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BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Carnegie Institution experiments
with plant fats" have opened up
the possibility of protection against
bacterial infections by diet.
This work, reported for the first
time today in the institutions an
nual report, may be the start of a
revolutionary field In experimental
medicine
The remarkable success OF peni-
cillin in war medicine started labo-
ratories all over the world on a
search for other "antibiotics." DR..
H. A. Spoehr, Carnegie plant bio
logist, noted that when a variety
of green alga, such as forms the
green scum on ponds, was grown
in the laboratory it produced in the
culture medium minute quantities
OF a substance which killed the
staphylococcus bacteria. Efforts to
increase the output, however, were
unsuccessful and it was impossible
to obtain enough even for chemical
tests.
Oil Taken From Algae.
The next effort was to extract the
antibiotic from the plant itself.
From dead, dried algae there finally
was obtained brown oil which
showed greatly increased germ-kill-
ing powers if the material from
which it came had been exposed to
sunlight for few days. The process
was expensive, the yield small, and
the value of the new bacteria killer
somewhat questionable
The next step however, was the
discovery that this brown oil was
mixture of various substances known
to chemists as "unsaturated fatty
acids, which are common conSti-
tuents Of plant fats. These are quite
close chemically to animal fats.
These acids themselves had no
effect on germs at first But when
they were exposed to air and light
for a considerable period, DR., Spoehr
found, they became deadly to vari-
GUS dangerous bacteria. Precise bio
logical tests have not yet been made.
Can Be Obtained Cheapiy.
The important factor, however,
is that these "fat" constituents are
abundant in nature and can be OBJ
tained very cheaply in practically
unlimited quantities. Corn, olive
and raisin oil are made up of COM
binations of them. They can be
extracted from practically any plant
which yields oil. Dr. Spoehr already
has obtained antibiotic substances
from alfalfa leaves, spinach, sun
flower, fax, cabbage, turnips and
carrots In each case the germ
killing properties appear only after
considerable exposure to air or pure
oxygen in the presence of sunlight.
The possibility pointed out by DR..
Spoehr is that various fatty acids
or combinations of them will prove
to be specific against different
germs. Some years ago chaul-
moogra oil was found to have
very beneficial effect on leprosy, al
though the earlier promises of this
treatment have not been entirely
fulfilled. This may have been the
first accidental stumbling on the
new field opened by the Carnegie
plant biologists.
Ultimate Promise Bright.
But the ultimate promise is even
greater than that of cheap specifics
against various bacteria. Man lives
in dangerous world. He is con-.
stantly coming in contact with
deadly germs. Occasionally some of
these get foothold in his body
and kill him. But the real miracle
is that so few people, relative to the
entire population, suffer from bac-
terial diseases and that, after all,
the human race has been able to-
survive for few thousand years.
Much of this survival phenome-
non may have been due, it is indi-.
Gated in the Carnegie report. to the
natural antibiotics in the food man
eats. Says the report:
The urge on the part of man to
obtain therapeutic agents capable
of suppressing bacterial pathogens
is natural and of the greatest i'm
portance. Yet it is also important
to know to what extent man is un-
Willingly protected from bacterial
infection because of the antibiotic
substances which are injected with
his food. 1t would seem to be quite
as important to know something
about natural protective agents as
to discover means of combat ting
bacterial organisms after they have
invaded the body"
Food Choice Instructive. "a
The human choice of foods has
been instructive. probably yielding
only very rough protection to man
against the invisible enemies which
surround him. Civilized man often
has departed far from the diets of
his ancestors and may leave out
many things which protected them
against disease. The new expert
ments may open the way to making
diet scientifically precise for portec-
ton against germs in everyday life.
Thus far, DR.. Spoehr reports,
none Of the fatty acid complexes has
shown an antibiotic activity nearly
as strong as penicillin, but he and
his co-workers have only scratched
the surface.
With the end of the war the in
stltution is planning to return as
rapidly as possible to its former role
OF basic research, according to the
report of DR.. Vannevar Bush, presi-
dent, who has served as head of the
war Office of Scientific Research and
Development. The war has created
a lack of scientific manpower which
is likely to continue for many years,
he says, due largely to the inter-
] ruption of education.
Maurice N. CIeeves Dies;