Clive Maine, McCay was a biochemist

Biochemist

Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...

, nutritionist

Nutritionist

A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical...

, gerontologist, and professor of Animal Husbandry

Animal husbandry

Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....

 at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 from 1927-1963. His main interest was the influence of nutrition on aging. He is best known for his work in proving that caloric restriction increases the life span of rats, which is seen as seminal in triggering further research and experiments in the field of nutrition and longevity. As of 2011 scientists are still trying to find the connection between caloric restriction and longevity.

Following his discovery between a low calorie diet and longevity, McCay played a prominent role in the development of nutritionally-sound rations during World War II, and the creation of Cornell Bread, a type of high protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

, high vitamin

Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...

 bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

 meant to echo the same high protein vitamin meal he fed to his mice in longevity experiments. His further research centered around canine nutrition, fluoride

Fluoride

Fluoride is the anion F−, the reduced form of fluorine when as an ion and when bonded to another element. Both organofluorine compounds and inorganic fluorine containing compounds are called fluorides. Fluoride, like other halides, is a monovalent ion . Its compounds often have properties that are...

 and its use in water treatment, and parabiosis

Parabiosis

Parabiosis is the surgical act of artificially creating conjoined twins of two organisms.This experiment has often been performed on rats for the physiological study of how internal bodily secretions affect organisms precisely as the blood is shared.-Etymology:Para- is Greek for "beside", "near",...

. Given his death in 1967, it is clear he failed to actually find the connection between nutrition and aging.

Dr. Clive McCay at Cornell University reported in 1958 that one part per million of sodium fluoride
added to the drinking water of rats caused the reversal of the possible evidence of causing a harder
tooth enamel, (although probably an abnormal form that is more brittle). He found that in fact it
created tooth decay where it otherwise did not exist, and further caused kidney cell breakdown in the
older rats.