| Harry Steenbock |
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Information AboutHarry Steenbock |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT HARRY STEENBOCK | |
| american biochemists | |
| steenbock, harry | |
| university of wisconsin-madison faculty | |
| 1886 births | |
| 1967 deaths | |
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Harry Steenbock ( 1886 – 1967 ) was a distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University Of Wisconsin-Madison . VITAMIN D In 1923, Harry Steenbock demonstrated that Irradiation by Ultraviolet Light increased the Vitamin D content of foods and other organic materials. After irradiating rodent food, Steenbock discovered that the rodents were cured of Rickets . It is now known that Vitamin D deficiency is a cause of Rickets . Using $300 of his own money, Steenbock Patent ed his Invention . Steenbock's irradiation technique was used for food stuffs, but most memorably for Milk . By the expiration of the patent in 1945, rickets had all but been eliminated. WARF After receiving his patent, the Quaker Oats company offered $1 million (approximately $10 million dollars today) for Steenbock's Vitamin D technology. Steenbock thought twice about the offer. Instead of quickly selling his rights to a commercial company, Steenbock believed the money should be returned to the university. After soliciting interest from nine other University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni , Steenbock was influential in starting the first university Technology Transfer office, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). WARF's initial operating budget was $900, one hundred dollars from each of the nine alumni. On February 19 1927 , WARF completed its first licensing agreement with the Quaker Oats company. The license permitted Quaker Oats to fortify its Breakfast Cereal s with Vitamin D. WARF went onto license the technology to Pharmaceutical companies for a medical application, which was known as Viosterol . SEE ALSO |
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