Linus Pauling: I patented with a couple of other people in the laboratory, the oxypolygelatin.
I don't remember when I had the idea of making oxypolygelatin. Perhaps in 1940 or
thereabouts.
Thomas Hager: And oxypolygelatin really never caught on, did it? As a plasma substitute?
Linus Pauling: Well, it wasn't approved by the Plasma Substitute Committee. And it was manufactured
for veterinary use. My understanding is that it is still being manufactured in some
places, but I don't have information. The Committee on Plasma Substitutes said that
it shouldn't be administered, because it wasn't homogeneous, molecularly. It involves
a range of molecular weights. I felt that, what difference does it make if there
is a range of molecular weights, if it works?
Thomas Hager: Well, it's not as though there aren't a range of molecular weight substances in plasma
anyway.
Linus Pauling: Yes. Blood...in the plasma you have serum albumin with a molecular weight of about
65,000 and serum globulin with molecular weight of 160,000. So what difference does
it make if there is a range of molecular weights?
