Lafayette Mendel
Overview
 
Lafayette Benedict Mendel (February 5, 1872 – December 9, 1935) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...

 known for his work in nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

 including the study of Vitamin A
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...

, Vitamin B, lysine
Lysine
Lysine is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH4NH2. It is an essential amino acid, which means that the human body cannot synthesize it. Its codons are AAA and AAG....

 and tryptophan
Tryptophan
Tryptophan is one of the 20 standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon UGG...

.

Mendel was born in Delhi, New York
Delhi (town), New York
Delhi is a town in Delaware County, New York, USA. The population was 4,629 at the 2000 census.The Town of Delhi is in the east-central part of the county. The State University of New York at Delhi is located in this town, which contains the Village of Delhi...

, son of Benedict Mendel, a merchant born in Aufhausen
Aufhausen
Aufhausen is a municipality in the district of Regensburg in Bavaria in Germany....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1833, and Pauline Ullman, born in Eschenau, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. His father immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1851, his mother in 1870.

At 15, he won a New York State scholarship.
 
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