Allene Jeanes

Dr. Allene Jeanes worked for the US Department of Agriculture for most of her career and invented two distinct but important chemicals: dextran and xanthan gum. Dextran was used as a blood plasma extender in emergency situations, extending the lives of many soldiers in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The Jeanes invention made it possible to produce purer and more shelf-stable dextran than had ever been produced before. Xanthan gum is a stabilizer and thickener that is used in cosmetics, food products, and petroleum products. Dr. Jeanes’s work in this area produced a gum that did not lose its viscosity as salts were added. Xanthan gum is now the most mass-produced polysaccharide in existence. Both dextran and xanthan gum are carbohydrates, natural materials containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.