Allene Rosalind Jeanes
Personal Information
Born: 1906
Died: USA
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Baylor University BA 1928; UC Berkeley MA; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign PhD Organic Chemistry 1938
Professional Life
Field of Study: Chemistry
Institution/Corporation: US Dept of Agriculture Northern regional Research Lab (NRRL)
Degrees & Memberships: Member: American Chemical Society*sigma Xi* Iota Sigma Pi
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1953 Distinguished Service Award, Dept of Agriculture (USDA); 1956 Garvan Medal, American Chemical Society; 1962 Federal Woman's Award, US Civil Service Commission; 1968 Superior Service Award, USDA; 1999 Agricultural Services Hall of Fame; 2017 National Inventors Hall of Fame
Achievements: Inventor of Dextran & Xanthum Gum; developed Dextran into a blood plasma extender used as a plasma substitute during the Korean & Viet Nam wars & developed a method to produce it commercially; part of the team that discovered Xanthum gum which was used as a food thickener, stabilizer & emulsifier
Inventor of Dextran, a blood plasma extender used as a plasma substitute to stabilize patients during Korean & VietNam Wars
Part of the team that discovered xanthan which is used as a food thickener, stabilizer, & emulsifier
Held 10 patents
Area of study was natural polysaccharides
Discovered Dextran after a soda company sent a sample of their root beer that had become thick & gooey to her Dept of Agriculture lab for analysis to discover what had caused the change in the soda; she isolated the bacteria causing the change & it was used to make Dextran