The Queen's Secret

A worker bee has a life span of only three months. But a queen bee lives for five-years--20 times as long. Biochemist Thomas S. Gardner of Nutley, NJ. thought that if he could find out how the queen does it, he might have a valuable clue to the secret of a long life.

He suspected that one reason for a queen bee's long life might be her rich diet: royal jelly. Royal jelly is exceptionally rich in pantothenic acid (a B vitamin believed to prevent grey hair), and in pyridoxin and biotin (also B vitamins). Dr. Gardner mixed up a brew of these three ingredients and a substance known as sodium yeast nucleate, and fed it to some fruit flies. The exciting result: the Gardner mixture increased the fruit flies' average life span 46%; pantothenic acid alone increased it 27%.

Last week Gardner reported his discovery to the American Chemical Society, convened in Manhattan. He pointed out, significantly, that pantothenic acid is found in considerable amounts in young animal tissues and in milk (babies' food). He has not yet tried his experiment on animals or human beings, but he thinks it may be interesting when he does.

Another biological finding reported at the chemists' meeting:

A new long-lasting insulin compound (forbiddingly named ammono-choline-citrate-insulin-hemochromogen) has been developed for diabetics. It requires only one injection a day. Its discoverers claimed that, unlike other one-a-day insulin preparations, the new compound does not give a "protein reaction."

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