Walter Lee Gaines (17 March 1881 – 20 November 1950) was a pioneer of dairy science and a professor of milk production at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. He studied factors affecting hormonal injections and their induction of milk production. In 1915 he used a pituitary gland extract from goats to demonstrate the effect, and it was later identified that the hormone was

oxytocin Oxytocin (Oxt or OT) is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. It plays a role in social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Oxytocin ...

. He noted that anaesthetic prevented this hormone from being effective and Gaines was among the first to suggest the idea of a neuroendocrine reflex involving the production of the substance in response to suckling. He was also thus a pioneer of

neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

. Gaines was born in Crete, Illinois and went to the University of Illinois, receiving a BS (1908) and an MS (1910) before working towards and obtaining his PhD at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

on the physiology of lactation. His 1915 thesis work on the induction of milk flow by hormones through injections and the observation that this induction is prevented by anaesthesia made him suggest a connection between neural stimulation of the endocrine system. He became a professor of milk production in 1919 and was involved in dairy research including studies on the effect of hormone, milk constitution and devised an approach to standardization of the energy content in milk.

References

External links

University of Illinois digital reprints

A contribution to the physiology of lactation
(1915 dissertation)
An analysis of milking shorthorn milk records
(1943)
The energy basis of measuring milk yield in dairy cows
(1928)
Persistency of lactation in dairy cows : a preliminary study of certain Guernsey and Holstein records
(1927)
The sunflower as a silage crop : composition and yield at different stages of maturity
(1925)
Rate of milk secretion as affected by advance in lactation and gestation : correction of yield, within a lactation period, for length of record and for pregnancy
(1926)
Relation between percentage fat content and yield of milk : correction of milk yield for fat content
(1923) 1881 births 1950 deaths University of Illinois alumni University of Illinois faculty People from Crete, Illinois American endocrinologists Veterinary scientists {{US-scientist-stub