EARTH.COM - Scientists once dismissed a 1958 hypothesis about vitamin B1, or thiamine, as unlikely. The idea was that this vitamin, vital for basic metabolic functions, might turn into a very reactive intermediate during certain biochemical processes.
Now, researchers have shown that the hunch was correct. Prof. Vincent Lavallo from the University of California, Riverside (UCR), led the investigation that confirms vitamin B1 can form a reactive species called a carbene, even in watery surroundings.