Lucy Wills' key observations 70 years ago in Bombay (Mumbai) led to the identification of folate as the nutrient needed to prevent anemia and other defects during pregnancy.
Dr. Wills demonstrated that the anemia could be corrected by brewer's yeast. This was called Wills factor, later called Folate was identified as the corrective substance in brewer's yeast in the late 1930s and was extracted from spinach leaves in 1941. It was synthesized in 1945 by teams lead by Dr. Yellapragada Subbarow of Lederle Lab, Pearl River, NY.
