– San Francisco Business Times
Prestigious Scientific Award Recognizes Discovery of Selenium-Cystic Fibrosis Link
PR Newswire
SAN DIEGO, Jan 4. 2012
SAN DIEGO, Jan 4. 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Youngevity® Essential Life Sciences (www.youngevity.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AL International (www.alintjcof.com) (JCOF-PK) and direct seller of lifestyle and nutritional products and gourmet healthy coffee, proudly announced that its founder, Dr. Joel D. Wallach, BS, DVM, ND is the 2011 recipient of the Klaus Schwarz Commemorative Medal. This prestigious award, sponsored by the International Association of Bioinorganic Scientists, Inc. (IABS), recognizes the work of pioneers in the field of trace element research and is named after Klaus Schwarz (1914-1978), a leading trace element researcher best known for his discovery of the essentiality of selenium.
The IABS cited Wallach’s groundbreaking discovery of an animal model of cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects 70,000 people worldwide. In 1978, as a researcher at the Emory University Yerkes National Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Wallach observed pancreatic lesions that were identical to those observed in human patients in the offspring of inadequately-fed rhesus monkeys. This suggested that cystic fibrosis—at the time believed to be a genetic disorder of humans only—could also be the result of selenium deficiency, and that some forms of cystic fibrosis might be preventable.
Selenium is an essential trace mineral that serves many functions in human physiology, including the synthesis of antioxidants (natural substances that neutralize free radical damage), and thyroid and immune function. It cannot be made by the human body but instead must be obtained through diet. Sources of selenium include nuts, cereals, meat, mushrooms, fish, eggs, and dietary supplements.
“Dr. Wallach is honored for a discovery that is already benefitting many,” said Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer, PhD, MS, FACN, CNS, and IABS Founder and President. “The broader significance of his discovery three decades ago is only now beginning to be recognized. From a historical perspective, Dr. Wallach is to be regarded as one of the first practitioners, if not founders, of epigenetics, a new scientific discipline that investigates heritable alterations in gene expression.”
A detailed article on this year’s award was published in the December 2011 edition of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Biological Trace Element Research.
