Franklin Church Bing
Head of man without a beard and with a side part hair.
Born(1902-12-29)December 29, 1902
DiedOctober 17, 1988(1988-10-17) (aged 85)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Known for
Seminal contributions to Biochemistry
SpouseCatherine Payne
Children1
Scientific career
Fieldsphysiological chemistry
Institutions
Doctoral advisorLafayette B. Mendel

Franklin Church Bing, (29 December 1902 – 17 October 1988) was an American biochemist, advisor and archivist. He was born in the United States. He got his PhD in the physiological chemistry department of Yale University in 1930. After that he joined Western Reserve University between 1929 and 1936 and became a faculty member in the apartment of Biochemistry. After many years of studying, in later career, he joined the American Medical Association and became a scientific researcher from 1936. Then between 1943 and 1950, Bing worked for the American Institute of Baking in Chicago[1]. From 1950 to 1952, he worked as an advisor to the Delaney Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Since then, he has become an independent food and drug advisor for private businesses and government agencies. In 1985, Franklin Church Bing became an archivist and worked for the American Institute of Nutrition. At the same time, he wrote several biographies of nutritionists[2]. Franklin Church Bing was a nutritionist, scientist and a chemist. He had studied and made many contributions to these related fields during his whole life[3].

Early life and education

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Early life and family (1902-1919)

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Franklin Church Bing was born in 1902 by his mother Alice Church in North Wales, Pennsylvania. She was a mixture of Scottish and French. His father was Franklin Howard Bing and he was a craftsman who made Musical Instruments. Then Franklin Church Bing grew up around Philadelphia and he had four younger brothers. He studied in a senior high school in Philadelphia, Frankford area. In high school, he was inspired by his science curriculum to pursue a later scientific career. Franklin Church Bing studied chemistry in the Yale University to got his PhD until 1930. In that period, he met his wife Catherine Payne. She was a pediatric nurse working at Grace New Haven Hospital. Then they married and after a few years, they had a child, named as John Howard. During the time he met and lived with his wife, he wrote many poems to her[3].

Education

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Yale Campus 2009
 
Pfahler Hall of Science Ursinus College 2010

After graduating from high school, Franklin Church Bing studied in Ursinus College during 1920. He left Ursinus College after 1 year's study and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to study biology and chemistry in 1921[4]. In 1924, he earned his bachelor's degree. Then he studied chemistry in the physiological chemistry department of Yale University and got his PhD in 1930[2]. In 1928, he studied at Yale University and published his first history essay in the University in the 'Scientific Monthly'. The journal article introduced an early American scientist-John Lining[5]. In order to improve his academic background in physiological chemistry, he attended a summer course in physiology at Woods Hole University[6].

Work experience

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During the time he was writing dissertation to get the PhD, he became a faculty member in the apartment of Biochemistry in the Western Reserve University between 1929 and 1936. During that period, his students and he published 15 scientific articles[3]. After many years of studying, in later career, he joined the American Medical Association and became a scientific researcher from 1936. At the same time, he expected to continue his academic research and teaching thus he became a teacher and researcher at Northwest University between 1936 and 1952. From 1950 to 1952, he worked as an advisor to the Delaney Committee of the United States House of Representatives. He has made many contributions to the Delaney Committee over the next two years, such as preparing background papers for members of the Committee and attending hearings and preparing abstracts for the technical part of the meeting. Since then, he has become an independent food and drug advisor for private businesses and government agencies[2]. In 1985, Franklin Church Bing became an archivist and worked for the American Institute of Nutrition. He and his wife moved to Upper Sandusky after he retired in 1988. In October 1988, he died of a brain hemorrhage[3].

Contribution to nutriology

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From 1935, Franklin Church Bing and his team have launched many nutrition education campaigns. Under Bing's guidance, a large number of articles had been published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Those articles described the latest information about vitamins and the articles attracted and helped many scholars and professionals. Then the articles were written into an influential book[7]. In addition, he did an experiment in which he changed the diet of mice and made their food lack of vitamin G. The result of this experiment showed that Vitamin G is essential[8].

Contribution to medicine

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During Franklin Church Bing studied in Yale University, he made a large number of notes about historical medicine – ‘metabolism’ and the field of nutriology from himself and his teacher – Professor Lafayette B. Mendel. His new views of ‘metabolism’ helped many scholars and professionals[9]. The Professor was the head of Physiology and Physiologic Chemistry in Yale University[3]. Bing worked for American Institute of Baking in Chicago from 1943 to 1950. During that period, some researchers and he conducted a survey of placebos and vitamin in a steel mills. They expected to consider if the effects of placebos and vitamin on factory output and workers' morale would be different thus he and the researchers picked up one group of workers to do this research. Bing gave the group of workers a vitamin supplement for the first time, a placebo for the second, and no supplements for the last time. They took a long period to come to a result due to a large workload and variables of this experiment. As a result, they considered that placebos and vitamins did not make much difference in boosting workers' morale[10].

Contribution to biological chemistry

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Hemoglobin

During Franklin Church Bing's time as a faculty in the apartment of Biochemistry in the Western Reserve University, Heinle and Bing developed a new approach to measure the number of red blood cells and the concentration of hemoglobin in 1933 and this measurement was more accurate than previous method [11]. In addition, he did a chemistry experiment on anaemic mice and bread. He fed the mice bread which containing iron and copper elements for a long period. The result of this chemistry experiment showed that hemoglobin could be grown and regenerated by both iron and copper elements in bread [12].


References

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  1. ^ Bing, F. C. (1943) Letter to C. A. Elvehjem. Bing Papers Box 1: Archives of the Vanderbilt Medical Center Library,  Nashville, TN.
  2. ^ a b c Franklin C. Bing Papers. Eskind Biomedical Library Special Collections, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
  3. ^ a b c d e William J., Darby; Patricia B., Swan (March 2001). "Franklin Church Bing (1902–1988)". The Journal of Nutrition. 131 (3): 713–716.
  4. ^ Bing, F. C. (1980) Oral History. M. Balsley, interviewer. Bing Papers Box 9: Archives of the Vanderbilt Medical Center Library,  Nashville, TN.
  5. ^ Bing, F.C. (1928). "John Lining, an Early American Scientist". The Scientific Monthly. 26: 249–252.
  6. ^ Bing, F. C. (1979) Letter to D. Bearman. Bing Papers Box 9: Archives of the Vanderbilt Medical Center Library,  Nashville, TN.
  7. ^ American Medical Association (1939) The Vitamins  American Medical Association Chicago, IL.
  8. ^ Remp, D.G.; Bing, F.C. (October 1934). "Inanition as a Factor in Vitamin G Deficiency". The Journal of Nutrition. 8 (4): 457–462.
  9. ^ Bing, F.C. (April 1971). "The History of the Word 'Metabolism'". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. XXVI (2): 158–180.
  10. ^ Ivy, AC; Jung, FT (Apr 1947). "The effect of administering a vitamin supplement, in capsules, to groups of workers in the steel industry". Industrial Medicine & Surgery. 16 (4): 163–167.
  11. ^ Bing, F.C.; Heinle, R.W. (1933). "Studies in the nutritional anemia of the rat. 8. A method for the estimation of hemoglobin and erythrocytes on a single small sample of blood". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 101: 369–372. ISSN 0021-9258.
  12. ^ Myers, V.C.; Remp, D.G.; Bing, F.C. (1935). "Hemoglobin production in rats on diets containing bread". Cereal Chemistry. 12: 372–376. ISSN 0009-0352.
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Category:Science occupations