Karl Paul Link
Karl Paul Gerhard Link (31 January 1901 – 21 November 1978) was an American biochemist best known for his discovery of the anticoagulant warfarin.[1]
Training and early career
He was born in
He was then chosen by the national Education Board for a postdoctoral scholarship, and relocated to
He was offered an assistant professorship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1927, and was promoted to associate professor in 1928. He worked initially on plant carbohydrates and resistance to disease. He married Elizabeth Feldman on September 20, 1930; they were to have three sons.[2]
Anticoagulants
In the subsequent years, most of his research focused on plant carbohydrates. However, the most fruitful period began when Ed Carson, a Wisconsin farmer, attracted Link's attention to "sweet clover disease", described in 1924 by veterinarian Frank Schofield. In this condition, cows bled to death after consuming hay made from spoilt
Dicoumarol was subjected to clinical trials in
Later years
Link was elected to the
His work in later years was hampered by poor health (tuberculosis) as he was then relocated to Lake View sanatorium, and upon his return was never able to fully regain his momentum in research.[2] Nevertheless, he remained a full professor until 1971, when he retired. He was a lifelong pioneer of liberal causes, and his wife was active in the pacifist movement.[2]
Link died from heart failure on November 21, 1978.[2]
Bibliography
- Link, Karl Paul; Tottingham, W. E. (February 1923). "Effects of the method of desiccation on the carbohydrates of plant tissue". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 45 (2): 439–447. .
- Campbell, Harold A.; Link, Karl Paul (1941). "Studies on the hemorrhagic sweet clover disease. IV. The isolation and crystallization of the hemorrhagic agent". J Biol Chem. 138: 21–33. .
- Stahmann, Mark Arnold; Huebner, Charles Ferdinand; Link, Karl Paul (1941). "Studies on the hemorrhagic sweet clover disease. V. Identification and synthesis of the hemorrhagic agent". J Biol Chem. 138 (2): 513–527. .
- Link, Karl Paul (January 1959). "The discovery of dicumarol and its sequels" (PDF). Circulation. 19 (1): 97–107. S2CID 21634182.
References
- ^ a b c d Rajagopalan, Ramya (2018). "A Study In Scarlet". Distillations. 4 (1): 26–35. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-309-04978-8.
- ^ Kresge, Nicole; Simoni, Robert D.; Hill, Robert L. (February 25, 2005). "Hemorrhagic Sweet Clover Disease, Dicumarol, and Warfarin: the Work of Karl Paul Link". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 280. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- PMID 11861967.