ABSTRACT
The trace element selenium (Se) was discovered by the Swedish chemist Jons J. Berzelius in 1818. Se was considered a toxic element until 1951. Klaus Schwartz, a physician from Germany working at the US National Institutes of Health as a research fellow, demonstrated the protective effect of vitamin E on liver necrosis in rats. He was the first to distinguish between “fatty liver and cirrhosis” and acute liver necrosis. Gerhard N. Schrauzer and his team, in an independent study in 1971, reported that Se was a potential human cancer-protective agent. One of the most exciting clinical trials in the United States, conducted by the late L. C. Clark, supported a protective effect of Se-enriched yeast against cancer of the prostate, colon, and lung. Clark showed the bright side of the moon element in an important human clinical intervention trial. He has contributed nationally and internationally to the field of Se and cancer prevention research.
