I was born in the small town of Ft. Kent, Maine, on September 26, 1919, to Meyer Blumberg and Minnie Klein Blumberg." Thus begins the autobiography of Mendel Blumberg, as told in his own wry, understated, reflective style. As a member of the Greatest Generation, he experienced the Great Depression as a teenager and then fought in World War II through the brutal campaigns in North Africa and southern Europe. Vowing that "I would never be cold again," he moved to Florida and had careers as a racehorse trainer, as a postal worker and union representative, and as a women's professional golf tour official. He never married, yet he had a number of long-term relationships with "beautiful women with great personalities. I feel like I've had five long honeymoons." He never had children, yet he had a lasting impact on his nephews, nieces, cousins' children, and their families. He was our much-loved Uncle Mendy.
Naturally occurring antinutrients and food toxicants, and those formed during food processing, adversely affect the nutri tional quality and safety of foods. Because of the need to improve food quality and safety by plant breeding, fortification with appropriate nutrients, and processing methods, and because of the growing concern about possible direct relationships between diet and diseases, research is needed to: (1) evaluate the nutritive quality and safety of crops and fortified, supplemented, and processed foods; (2) define conditions that favor or minimize the formation of nutritionally antagonistic and toxic compounds in foods; and (3) define the toxicology, metabolism, and mechanisms of the action of food ingredients and their metabolites. As scientists interested in improving the safety of the food supply, we are challenged to respond to the general need for exploring: (1) possible adverse consequences of antinutrients and food toxicants; and (2) factors which contribute to the formation and inactivation of undesirable compounds in foods. Medical research offers an excellent analogy. Studies on causes and mechanisms of disease processes are nearly always accompanied by parallel studies on preventive measures and cures. Such an approach offers the greatest possible benefits to the public.
The word crosslinking implies durable combination of (usually large) distinct elements at specific places to create a new entity that has different properties as a result of the union. In the case of proteins, such crosslinking often results in important changes in chemical, functional, nutritional, and biomedical properties, besides physical properties simply related to molecular size and shape. (Nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and other biopolymers are correspondingly affected.) Since proteins are ubiquitous, the consequences of their crosslinking are widespread and often profound. Scientists from many disciplines including organic chemistry, bio chemistry, protein chemistry, food science, nutrition, radiation biology, pharmacology, physiology, medicine, and dentistry are, therefore, minutely interested in protein crosslinking reactions and their implications. Because protein crosslinking encompasses so many disciplines, in organizing the Symposium on Nutritional and Biochemical Conse quences of Protein Crosslinking sponsored by the Protein Subdivi sion of the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, I sought participants with the broadest possible range of interests, yet with a common concern for theore tical and practical aspects of protein crosslinking. An important function of a symposium is to catalyze progress by bringing together ideas and experiences needed for interaction among different, yet related disciplines. To my pleasant surprise, nearly everyone invited came to San Francisco to participate.
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