Boyd Haley
Encyclopedia
Boyd E. Haley, PhD is a retired professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky
. The basic research interest of his laboratory centered on biochemical
and biomedical
problems involving control at the molecular level, particularly in biological systems regulated by protein–nucleotide interactions where the bioenergetics
involved are expressed through site-specific nucleotide
binding of high affinity or through protein substrate phosphorylation. He has also investigated the effect of mercury
on tissues and published on similarities between these and some biochemical changes reported in nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease
and autism
. His views about mercury and dental amalgams go against the consensus held in the medical community.
laboratory studies the differences between normal and diseased tissues as observed through changes in nucleotide
binding proteins. Haley focuses on biochemical and biomedical problems involving control at the molecular level, particularly biological systems regulated by protein–nucleotide interactions where the bioenergetics involved are expressed through site-specific nucleotide binding of high affinity or through protein substrate phosphorylation.
His lab synthesizes novel nucleotide analogs that are photoactive or fluorescent, or both, which are then used to study protein–nucleotide interactions which regulate enzyme activity. These probes have proven useful in his research into the causes of Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
and multiple sclerosis
, which his lab is currently investigating.
His laboratory's approach to the study of the general phenomenon of protein–nucleotide interactions is to synthesize novel nucleotide analogs that are photoactive or fluorescent, or both. The analogs are then used to study various interactions which regulate enzyme activity. Analogs used may be modifications of the commonly known nucleotides such as Adenosine triphosphate
, cyclic adenosine monophosphate
, Guanosine triphosphate
, dUTP diphosphatase
and Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
.
regarding mercury vapour from dental amalgams and on thimerosal-containing vaccines. Haley was one of the first researchers to propose that Thimerosal in vaccines was the most likely toxic agent involved in Gulf War syndrome
and autism spectrum disorders.
Haley has conducted studies that suggest low levels of mercury are capable of contributing to certain neurological diseases such as autism
and Alzheimer's disease
, and he has observed that exposure of lab rats to low level mercury vapor causes a great increase in rat brain mercury levels, along with a marked decrease in brain tubulin
photolabeling, as has been found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
Using birth-hair analysis, Haley has produced evidence that individuals diagnosed with autism
excrete less mercury. His hypothesis is that they form a distinct subset of the population with reduced excretion of mercury, relating to thiomersal's controversial and unproven role
in the etiology of autism.
s could be a potential cause of autism and Alzheimer’s disease. His findings have not been reproduced and the United States Public Health Service
and the American Dental Association
reject these claims. Haley's position is that there is a link between people with dental amalgams containing a high level of mercury and the level of mercury in the blood and urine. Critics of the anti-amalgam view have pointed to a study suggesting the amount of mercury released by fillings during normal use is minuscule and does not represent a threat to health. These opposing positions are part of the wider debate on the dental amalgam controversy
.
may induce a wide range of improvements in overall health, in a manner similar to that of chelation therapy
. Haley has also speculated that gold salts may be useful in the treatment of autism. This was based on the observation that one of the first autistics known lost his autism diagnosis when treated for rheumatoid arthritis by taking gold salts containing a thiol linkage. Gold and thiols are known to have high affinity for mercury.
firm that synthesizes and markets nucleotide
photo-affinity analogs for biomedical research.
Dr. Haley is a member of the Autism Think Tank of the Autism Association, and a fellow in the IAOMT and has presented numerous lectures on the subject of mercury toxicity and neurological diseases at a variety of international conferences, and has testified before congressional committees and the Institute of Medicine.
Haley is the founder of CTI Science, a Lexington, Kentucky
-based bio-technology firm. CTI marketed a product OSR#1
for human consumption, described as an "antioxidant" dietary supplement
, that is known to be a powerful chelator
from a family of chelators originally developed to remove heavy metals from soil and acid mine drainage. In June 2008, an FDA toxicologist questioned "on what basis the product could be expected to be safe and could be considered a dietary ingredient", but CTI Science and Haley had not responded as of January 2010. The question was, however, in response to a 75 day premarket notification for a supplement which precluded testing on humans until after its submission. The testing was described by Ellen Silbergeld of the Bloomberg School of Public Health
as incomplete and indicative of toxicity. On June 17, 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter
noting five potential violations, expressing concern over the testing, and requiring a response in 15 days. Although Haley wrote op-ed
for the Lexington Herald-Leader
, the FDA did not receive a formal response and OSR#1 was withdrawn from the market.
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. The basic research interest of his laboratory centered on biochemical
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
and biomedical
Biomedicine
Biomedicine is a branch of medical science that applies biological and other natural-science principles to clinical practice,. Biomedicine, i.e. medical research, involves the study of physiological processes with methods from biology, chemistry and physics. Approaches range from understanding...
problems involving control at the molecular level, particularly in biological systems regulated by protein–nucleotide interactions where the bioenergetics
Bioenergetics
Bioenergetics is the subject of a field of biochemistry that concerns energy flow through living systems. This is an active area of biological research that includes the study of thousands of different cellular processes such as cellular respiration and the many other metabolic processes that can...
involved are expressed through site-specific nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
binding of high affinity or through protein substrate phosphorylation. He has also investigated the effect of mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
on tissues and published on similarities between these and some biochemical changes reported in nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. His views about mercury and dental amalgams go against the consensus held in the medical community.
Research
Haley's University of KentuckyUniversity of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
laboratory studies the differences between normal and diseased tissues as observed through changes in nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
binding proteins. Haley focuses on biochemical and biomedical problems involving control at the molecular level, particularly biological systems regulated by protein–nucleotide interactions where the bioenergetics involved are expressed through site-specific nucleotide binding of high affinity or through protein substrate phosphorylation.
His lab synthesizes novel nucleotide analogs that are photoactive or fluorescent, or both, which are then used to study protein–nucleotide interactions which regulate enzyme activity. These probes have proven useful in his research into the causes of Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
and multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, which his lab is currently investigating.
His laboratory's approach to the study of the general phenomenon of protein–nucleotide interactions is to synthesize novel nucleotide analogs that are photoactive or fluorescent, or both. The analogs are then used to study various interactions which regulate enzyme activity. Analogs used may be modifications of the commonly known nucleotides such as Adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine triphosphate
Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleoside triphosphate used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism...
, cyclic adenosine monophosphate
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate is a second messenger important in many biological processes...
, Guanosine triphosphate
Guanosine triphosphate
Guanosine-5'-triphosphate is a purine nucleoside triphosphate. It can act as a substrate for the synthesis of RNA during the transcription process...
, dUTP diphosphatase
DUTP diphosphatase
In enzymology, a dUTP diphosphatase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionThus, the two substrates of this enzyme are dUTP and H2O, whereas its two products are dUMP and diphosphate....
and Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, abbreviated NAD, is a coenzyme found in all living cells. The compound is a dinucleotide, since it consists of two nucleotides joined through their phosphate groups. One nucleotide contains an adenine base and the other nicotinamide.In metabolism, NAD is involved...
.
Mercury research
Haley has testified to the US Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
regarding mercury vapour from dental amalgams and on thimerosal-containing vaccines. Haley was one of the first researchers to propose that Thimerosal in vaccines was the most likely toxic agent involved in Gulf War syndrome
Gulf War syndrome
Gulf War syndrome or Gulf War illness describes a medical condition that affected veterans and civilians who were near conflicts during or downwind of chemical weapons depot demolition, after the 1991 Gulf War. A wide range of acute and chronic symptoms have included fatigue, musculoskeletal...
and autism spectrum disorders.
Haley has conducted studies that suggest low levels of mercury are capable of contributing to certain neurological diseases such as autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, and he has observed that exposure of lab rats to low level mercury vapor causes a great increase in rat brain mercury levels, along with a marked decrease in brain tubulin
Tubulin
Tubulin is one of several members of a small family of globular proteins. The most common members of the tubulin family are α-tubulin and β-tubulin, the proteins that make up microtubules. Each has a molecular weight of approximately 55 kiloDaltons. Microtubules are assembled from dimers of α- and...
photolabeling, as has been found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
Using birth-hair analysis, Haley has produced evidence that individuals diagnosed with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
excrete less mercury. His hypothesis is that they form a distinct subset of the population with reduced excretion of mercury, relating to thiomersal's controversial and unproven role
Thiomersal controversy
The thiomersal controversy describes claims that vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thiomersal contribute to the development of autism and other brain development disorders...
in the etiology of autism.
Controversial views about mercury and dental amalgams
Haley surmises that mercury released from dental amalgamAmalgam (dentistry)
Amalgam is an alloy containing mercury. The term is commonly used for the amalgam employed as material for dental fillings, which consists of mercury , silver , tin , copper , and other trace metals...
s could be a potential cause of autism and Alzheimer’s disease. His findings have not been reproduced and the United States Public Health Service
United States Public Health Service
The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...
and the American Dental Association
American Dental Association
The American Dental Association is an American professional association established in 1859 which has more than 155,000 members. Based in Chicago, the ADA is the world's largest and oldest national dental association and promotes good oral health to the public while representing the dental...
reject these claims. Haley's position is that there is a link between people with dental amalgams containing a high level of mercury and the level of mercury in the blood and urine. Critics of the anti-amalgam view have pointed to a study suggesting the amount of mercury released by fillings during normal use is minuscule and does not represent a threat to health. These opposing positions are part of the wider debate on the dental amalgam controversy
Dental amalgam controversy
The dental amalgam controversy refers to the conflicting views over the use of amalgam as a filling material mainly because it contains the element mercury...
.
Mercury and gold salts
Haley has speculated that gold saltsGold salts
Gold salts describe ionic chemical compounds of gold. The term, which is a misnomer, has evolved into a synonym for the gold compounds used in medicine...
may induce a wide range of improvements in overall health, in a manner similar to that of chelation therapy
Chelation therapy
Chelation therapy is the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. For the most common forms of heavy metal intoxication—those involving lead, arsenic or mercury—the standard of care in the United States dictates the use of dimercaptosuccinic acid...
. Haley has also speculated that gold salts may be useful in the treatment of autism. This was based on the observation that one of the first autistics known lost his autism diagnosis when treated for rheumatoid arthritis by taking gold salts containing a thiol linkage. Gold and thiols are known to have high affinity for mercury.
Professional associations
Haley is also co-founder and scientific advisor of Affinity Labeling Technologies, Inc., a biotechnologyBiotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
firm that synthesizes and markets nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
photo-affinity analogs for biomedical research.
Dr. Haley is a member of the Autism Think Tank of the Autism Association, and a fellow in the IAOMT and has presented numerous lectures on the subject of mercury toxicity and neurological diseases at a variety of international conferences, and has testified before congressional committees and the Institute of Medicine.
Haley is the founder of CTI Science, a Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
-based bio-technology firm. CTI marketed a product OSR#1
BDTH2
BDTH2 is a powerful chelation agent that is marketed as a dietary supplement to parents of children with autism, and can be used to separate heavy metals from mining drainage and other polluted soil.- Preparation :This compound may be prepared by reacting cysteamine with isophthaloyl...
for human consumption, described as an "antioxidant" dietary supplement
Dietary supplement
A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet...
, that is known to be a powerful chelator
Chelation therapy
Chelation therapy is the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. For the most common forms of heavy metal intoxication—those involving lead, arsenic or mercury—the standard of care in the United States dictates the use of dimercaptosuccinic acid...
from a family of chelators originally developed to remove heavy metals from soil and acid mine drainage. In June 2008, an FDA toxicologist questioned "on what basis the product could be expected to be safe and could be considered a dietary ingredient", but CTI Science and Haley had not responded as of January 2010. The question was, however, in response to a 75 day premarket notification for a supplement which precluded testing on humans until after its submission. The testing was described by Ellen Silbergeld of the Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is part of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
as incomplete and indicative of toxicity. On June 17, 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter
FDA Warning Letter
The United States Food and Drug Adminstration defines a Warning Letter as "...a correspondence that notifies regulated industry about violations that FDA has documented during its inspections or investigations...
noting five potential violations, expressing concern over the testing, and requiring a response in 15 days. Although Haley wrote op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
for the Lexington Herald-Leader
Lexington Herald-Leader
The Lexington Herald-Leader is a newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and based in the U.S. city of Lexington, Kentucky. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the Herald-Leaders paid circulation is the second largest in the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
, the FDA did not receive a formal response and OSR#1 was withdrawn from the market.