There is a lifesaving drug that owes its existence to moldy hay, sick cows and rat poison.
The drug is called warfarin sodium. It prevents blood clots, and it can be a life-saver for patients who’ve had a heart attack or stroke. It’s one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world.
There’s rarely a straight line from idea to invention, but the story of warfarin is particularly twisted. It began on a winter day in the mid-1930s when a farmer showed up at a lab at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
“He apparently showed up in a blizzard, and he had this can of cow’s blood with him,” says Kevin Walters, a graduate student in history at the University of Wisconsin who has studied the warfarin story.
How Moldy Hay And Sick Cows Led To A Lifesaving Drug
Video: NPR
@words-writ-in-starlight was this something that made it?
It was not but also damn that’s cool