100 Years of Discovery and the Science Being Reborn
For a century, vitamins have been a cornerstone of human health. Now, a revolutionary breakthrough is breathing new life into this vital field.
Walk into any pharmacy or health food store, and you'll find walls lined with them. Vitamins, once mysterious substances that cured debilitating diseases like scurvy and beriberi, have become a staple of modern life. More than half of all U.S. adults regularly take vitamins or other dietary supplements, trusting these compounds to optimize their health 1 .
U.S. adults take supplements regularly
Since the height of vitamin discovery
Fundamental biology still unknown
Yet, beneath this widespread public acceptance lies a surprising scientific reality: the fundamental biology of how vitamins work in our bodies—a field known as "vitamin biology"—is far behind the times. While we've been popping pills, the core science has largely stagnated, relying on decades-old discoveries without the benefit of modern investigative tools.
This year, 2025, marks approximately a century since the height of vitamin discovery. It's a perfect moment to celebrate how these vital nutrients have transformed human health. But it's also the right time to ask a crucial question: What don't we know about the vitamins we take so confidently? As we'll discover, the answer is: plenty. And a quiet revolution is underway to find those answers.
The early 20th century represented the golden age of vitamin research. Scientists raced to identify these mysterious "vital amines" (the term from which "vitamin" derives) whose absence caused devastating deficiency diseases. This period yielded nutritional miracles: the discovery that vitamin C prevented scurvy, vitamin B1 cured beriberi, and vitamin D prevented rickets.
Casimir Funk coins the term "vitamine" for vital amines
Discovery of vitamin D and its role in preventing rickets
Identification of multiple B vitamins and their functions
Chemical synthesis of many vitamins becomes possible
These breakthroughs led to profound public health interventions. The fortification of foods with essential vitamins all but eliminated certain deficiency diseases in many parts of the world. The simple act of adding folic acid to grains, for instance, significantly reduced the incidence of neural tube defects in newborns 2 .
However, as the 20th century progressed, the field of vitamin biology reached a plateau. The fundamental pathways had been mapped, the deficiency diseases addressed, and scientific attention shifted toward flashier fields like genetics and molecular biology. Vitamins came to be seen as a solved puzzle—basic nutrients whose roles were fully understood.
Nothing better illustrates both the stagnation and revitalization of vitamin research than a recent breakthrough involving vitamin B1 (thiamine). This story begins in 1958, when Columbia University chemist Ronald Breslow proposed a radical theory: that vitamin B1 could temporarily form an incredibly reactive, short-lived molecule called a carbene to drive essential biological reactions in the body 4 .
A carbene is a type of carbon atom with only six valence electrons instead of the stable eight. This electron deficiency makes carbenes incredibly reactive—so reactive that scientists believed they couldn't possibly exist in water-based biological systems. Since the human body is predominantly water, this presented a major paradox: how could something that decomposes instantly in water exist in our cells?
For 67 years, Breslow's hypothesis remained just that—an intriguing but unproven theory. Chemists couldn't stabilize carbenes in water long enough to study them, leaving a fundamental gap in our understanding of how one of the most essential vitamins actually works at the molecular level.
The 2025 discovery of stabilizing carbenes in water confirms a 67-year-old hypothesis about vitamin B1's mechanism of action.
This year, everything changed. A team of chemists at the University of California, Riverside, achieved what was long thought impossible: they stabilized a carbene in water—and kept it stable for months 4 .
The research team, led by Professor Vincent Lavallo, succeeded by designing a molecular "suit of armor" that protected the reactive carbene center from water and other molecules. This protective shield allowed them to not only generate the carbene but to isolate it, seal it in a tube, and study it using advanced techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography 4 .
| Year | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Ronald Breslow proposes carbene hypothesis | Suggests vitamin B1 forms reactive carbene intermediate in biological systems |
| 2000s-2020s | Development of molecular stabilization techniques | Creates methodological foundation for isolating reactive molecules |
| 2025 | UC Riverside team stabilizes carbene in water | Confirms 67-year-old hypothesis, opens new avenues for green chemistry |
While this discovery confirms a fundamental biological process, its implications extend far beyond understanding vitamin B1. Carbenes are crucial components in catalysts used to produce pharmaceuticals, fuels, and other materials. Currently, these processes rely on toxic organic solvents.
The UC Riverside team's method of stabilizing carbenes in water could revolutionize these industrial processes. "Water is the ideal solvent—it's abundant, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly," said Varun Raviprolu, the paper's first author. "If we can get these powerful catalysts to work in water, that's a big step toward greener chemistry" 4 .
This breakthrough demonstrates that even the most established areas of vitamin science still hold profound mysteries—and that solving these mysteries can have unexpected applications across chemistry and industry.
Today's vitamin researchers have tools at their disposal that early pioneers couldn't have imagined. The following outlines key reagents, materials, and methodologies driving the current revival in vitamin biology.
| Research Tool | Function/Application | Example from Recent Research |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular "Armor" | Stabilizes highly reactive intermediates for study | Protective molecular structures that shield carbenes from water 4 |
| Gene Editing Techniques | Identifies roles of specific genes in vitamin function | Removing microRNA-93 in mice to study vitamin B3's effect on fatty liver 5 |
| Flow Cytometry | Analyzes immune cell cytokine production | Measuring how vitamin C affects monocyte and lymphocyte inflammation markers 6 |
| Advanced Detection Methods | Precisely measures vitamin concentrations in foods & tissues | Using spectroscopy, chromatography, and sensors for vitamin analysis 7 |
| Systems Biology Approaches | Maps all metabolic pathways involving vitamins | Identifying all enzymes and processes dependent on each vitamin 3 |
The power of these modern tools is evident in a recent breakthrough involving vitamin B3 (niacin) and fatty liver disease. A research team led by Professor Jang Hyun Choi has identified a specific genetic driver of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD)—a condition affecting 30% of the global population 5 .
The researchers discovered that a molecule called microRNA-93 (miR-93) becomes overactive in fatty livers, where it suppresses a key metabolic regulator called SIRT1. By using gene editing to eliminate miR-93 in mice, they observed dramatic reductions in liver fat accumulation 5 .
Most remarkably, when they screened 150 FDA-approved drugs, they found that the vitamin B3 most effectively suppressed this problematic molecule. Niacin treatment significantly decreased miR-93 levels and increased SIRT1 activity, effectively normalizing liver lipid metabolism in animal models 5 .
This research demonstrates how modern genetic tools can reveal entirely new functions for well-known vitamins, potentially repurposing them as treatments for modern health epidemics.
Vitamin B3 found to regulate gene expression in fatty liver disease through microRNA-93 pathway.
| Vitamin | Discovery | Research Tools Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin B1 | Confirmation of carbene formation in biological contexts | Molecular stabilization, NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography 4 |
| Vitamin B3 | Role in treating fatty liver disease via genetic regulation | Gene editing, molecular analysis, drug screening 5 |
| Vitamin C | Selective inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines | Flow cytometry, whole blood assays 6 |
| Folate/B12 | Importance in cognitive development and function | Long-term epidemiological studies, cognitive testing 8 |
While basic vitamin biology advances, applied research continues to address global nutritional challenges. Biofortification—the process of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value—represents one of the most successful practical applications of vitamin science in the 21st century 9 .
The principle is simple: "let plants do the work." By developing staple crops that naturally contain higher levels of essential vitamins and minerals, biofortification provides sustainable nutrition to populations without requiring changes to traditional eating habits.
Biofortified crop varieties
Countries with biofortified crops
People eating biofortified foods
Initial biofortification activities began
The progress has been remarkable. Since initial activities began in 2003, nearly 450 biofortified varieties of 12 crops have been released in 41 countries. As of 2023, an estimated 330 million people globally are eating biofortified foods 9 .
This success story underscores an important theme: even as we pursue cutting-edge vitamin research, applying existing knowledge can continue to transform public health on a global scale.
The recent breakthroughs in vitamin research share a common theme: they're applying 21st-century tools to 20th-century discoveries. This approach is breathing new life into a field that had largely been overlooked by mainstream science.
Leading this revival are scientists like Dr. Isha Jain of Gladstone Institutes, who recently received a $6.6 million NIH Transformative Research Award to systematically reinvestigate vitamin biology using modern methodologies 3 .
"By applying systems biology approaches to vitamins, our work could lead to immediate and impactful therapies for a wide range of genetic disorders, offering a new era of personalized vitamin-based treatments," Jain explains 3 .
This represents a paradigm shift from viewing vitamins as general nutritional supplements to understanding them as precise therapeutic agents that can be targeted to specific genetic profiles and health conditions.
As we reflect on a century of vitamin research, there's much to celebrate. The discoveries of these essential nutrients have prevented countless deaths from deficiency diseases and improved the quality of life for billions. The scientists who identified, isolated, and synthesized vitamins deserve recognition as medical pioneers.
Yet, the most exciting chapter of vitamin research may be just beginning. The confirmation of 67-year-old hypotheses, the discovery of new therapeutic applications for well-known vitamins, and the development of sophisticated tools to study these compounds all point to a field on the verge of transformation.
As Vincent Lavallo reflected on his team's carbene discovery: "Just 30 years ago, people thought these molecules couldn't even be made. Now we can bottle them in water. What Breslow said all those years ago—he was right" 4 .
Perhaps the greatest honor we can give to the vitamin pioneers of the past century is to approach their discoveries with fresh eyes, modern tools, and the same spirit of curiosity that drove their original breakthroughs. The next 100 years of vitamin research promise to be as illuminating as the first.