Talk commemorates 75th anniversary of Warfarin saga

Seventy-five years ago this February, a Wisconsin dairy farmer brought some sweet clover hay to UW–Madison biochemist Karl Paul Link. The farmer suspected the clover had killed his cattle, which died from uncontrollable bleeding.

From one farmer’s misfortune, much good has come. In this batch of spoiled hay, Link discovered an anti-clotting agent. This, in turn led to the development of Warfarin, a blood thinner that has aided patients around the world who suffer from thrombosis and other clotting disorders.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the events that set the stage for the development of this powerful drug, David Nelson and Tom Link will recount the whole Warfarin story-discovery, development, commercialization and widespread medical use-at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Nelson, a UW–Madison professor of biochemistry, is a chronicler of the department’s history. Link is son of Karl Paul Link, who received the spoiled hay that fateful day.

The talk will be held in room 1111 of the UW–Madison Genetics/Biotechnology Center at 425 Henry Mall, as part of the weekly Wednesday Night @ The Lab lecture series. The event is free and open to the public, and there is free parking in Lot 20, located nearby at 1390 University Avenue.

For more information about Warfarin, contact David Nelson at (608) 263-6879 or nelson@biochem.wisc.edu.

For more information about Wednesday Night @ The Lab, contact Tom Zinnen at (608) 265-2420 or zinnen@biotech.wisc.edu.

WN@TL is sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, The UW–Madison Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the UW–Madison Science Alliance.