Boyd O'Dell honored for contributions to biochemistry
Professor Emeritus Boyd O'Dell
A tree planted at Schweitzer Hall has been dedicated to 92-year-old Biochemistry Professor Emeritus Boyd O'Dell.
A leading figure in nutrition research for more than five decades, O'Dell continues to work in labs and mentor students.
O'Dell described the need for folic acid supplementation to prevent hydrocephalus in the newborn rat, copper's role in cross-linking connective tissue molecules, and the concept of trace element bioavailability through studies on zinc as an essential dietary component.
O'Dell's research has covered a broad area of nutrition. His early work focused on several vitamins and amino acids; later he focused on trace elements. His work with A.G. Hogan on the isolation of folic acid (vitamin B 2) and vitamin B 12 led to an understanding of the relationship between maternal nutrition and hydrocephalus in the newborn rat, which is especially significant for nutrition of the pregnant human female.
In the 1950s O'Dell reported that the growth of chicks fed various protein-rich diets could be markedly improved by supplementation with specific amino acids. Most of his research, however, has been devoted to the roles of two trace elements, copper and zinc. He noted that copper deficiency led to aortic rupture in chicks as a result of failure of elastin and collagen cross-linking, and he demonstrated that lysyloxidase is a copper metalloenzyme that converts the epsilon-carbon of protein-bound lysines to aldehydes, which then undergo condensation to produce intra-chain cross-links. He later established a relationship between copper deficiency of lambs and the catecholamine status of their brains and a resulting ataxia. O’Dell reported that the mild zinc deficiency produced ill health in the chick and showed that the zinc in soybean protein was not readily absorbed. The latter observation led to one of his major contributions, the concept of trace element bioavailability.
O'Dell's research program on zinc nutrition continues with emphasis on development of plasma markers for zinc deficiency and the requirement of zinc for nervous tissue function.