Miloslav "Mila" Rechcigl Jr. (born 30 July 1930) is a Czech-American biochemist, nutritionist, cancer researcher, writer, editor, historian, bibliographer, and genealogist. He is a founding member of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences and served as its president from 1974 to 1978 and from 1994 to 2006.
Early life Rechcigl was born on 30 July 1930 in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia.Mladoboleslavsko v proměnách času (Prague & Mladá Boleslav: Nakladatelství Libri & Okresní muzeum, 1997 His father, Miloslav Rechcigl Sr., was a politician in pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, serving as the youngest member of the Czechoslovak Parliament and president of the Millers Association of Bohemia and Moravia.Ottův slovník naučný nové doby. Prague: "Novina", 1938, vol. V. 1, p. 496 After the communist takeover in 1948, Rechcigl left the country, immigrated to the United States in 1950, and became a naturalized citizen in 1955."A 'B' for Behavior for the Miller's Son", Welcome to the Heart of Europe, vol. 2, No. 1 (1995), p. 38. He studied at Cornell University from 1951 to 1958, earning BS, MSN, and PhD degrees, with a focus on biochemistry, nutrition, physiology, and food science.
Career He spent two years conducting research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Subsequently, he was appointed as research biochemist to the staff of the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Cancer Institute.Who's Who in Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 1962-. During 1968–1969, he participated in a one-year USPHS executive training program in health administration, research management, grants administration, and science policy.NIH Record, June 11, 1968, p. 7DRG Personal Items (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD), No. 5 (May 1968), p. 2.
He was subsequently appointed Special Assistant for Nutrition and Health in the Health Services and Mental Health Administration.."Appointment of Dr. Miloslav Rechcigl. Jr. as Special Assistant for Nutrition and Health", Regional Medical Programs Service News Information Data 4, No.1 (January 7, 1970), pp. 1-4 In 1970, he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was then part of the U.S. Department of State, as a nutrition advisor and later became responsible for managing its research program.The Biographical Register, US Department of State, July 1974, p. 282Dictionary of International Biography, 1969–
Research activities
Rechcigl initially specialized in amino acid metabolism, including the utilization of D-amino acids and non-specific forms of nitrogen. He later investigated the relationship between protein and vitamin A, finding that the amount and biological value of dietary protein are necessary for the efficient conversion of carotene to vitamin A. He also studied metabolic changes during cachexia in tumor-bearing animals. He observed the depression of enzyme catalase in the livers and kidneys of tumor hosts, which some investigators attributed to a hypothetical substance called toxohormone. This hypothesis was disproved by Rechcigl's findings of significant enzyme levels in liver tumors themselves.
A number of his studies dealt with the question of enzyme turnover in vivo. Using specific metabolic inhibitors, he evaluated relative rates of synthesis and degradation of the enzyme catalase under a variety of physiological, pathological, and pharmacological conditions. These studies led to the conclusion that the rate of synthesis, rather than the rate of destruction, may be the preferential way the mammalian organism controls its enzyme levels.
His finding of significantly different levels of catalase activity in certain substrains of mice, which were under genetic control, provided a model for pursuing fundamental research in biochemical genetics in the mammalian system. The analyses of the first, second, and backcross generations between high-enzyme and low-enzyme mouse substrains showed that the difference was due to a single autosomal gene pair with low dominance over high. Using specific metabolic inhibitors, it was subsequently found that the genetic difference between the two substrains lies primarily in the markedly increased rate of the enzyme destruction in the liver of one of the substrains. This was in contrast to all normal rats and mice studied previously, where rates of enzyme destruction seemed to be almost constant. Although transient alteration in the rate of enzyme degradation has been observed under certain physiological conditions with other enzyme systems, the observation on catalase was considered the first demonstration of such a regulatory mechanism under genetic control.
He also conducted studies on the morphology, biochemistry and physiology of microbodies, in collaboration with Prof. Z. Hruban of the University of Chicago. This collaboration resulted in the monograph called "Micro bodies and Related Particles" (1969).
Scientific publications Monographs Microbodies and Related Particles. (International Review of Cytology. Supplement No. 1). New York and London, Academic Press, 1969. 296 pp.; also in Russian. Enzyme Synthesis and Degradation in Mammalian Systems. Basel-Munchen-Paris-London-New York-Sydney: S. Karger, 1971. 477 pp. Food, Nutrition and Health. A Multidisciplinary Treatise Addressed to the Major Nutrition Problems from a Worldwide Perspective. Basel-Munchen- Paris-London-New York-Sydney: S. Karger, 1973. 516 pp. Man, Food, and Nutrition. Strategies and Technological Measures for Alleviating the World Food Problem. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1973. 344 pp. World Food Problem. A Selective Bibliography of Reviews. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1975. 211 pp. Comparative Animal Nutrition. Vol. 1. Carbohydrates, Lipids, and accessory Growth Factors. Basel-Munchen-Paris-London-New York-Sydney: S. Karger, 1976. 223 pp. Comparative Animal Nutrition. Vol. 2 Nutrient Elements and Toxicants. Basel-Munchen-Paris-London-New York-Sydney: S. Karger, 1977. 208 pp. Comparative Animal Nutrition. Vol. 3. Nitrogen, Electrolytes, Water and Energy Metabolism. Basel-Munchen-Paris-London-New York- Sydney: S.Karger, 1979. 260 pp. Comparative Animal Nutrition. Vol. 4. Physiology of Growth and Nutrition. Basel-Munchen-Paris-London-New York-Sydney: S. Karger, 1981. 341 pp. Nutrition and World Food Problem. Basel-Munchen-Paris-London-New York-Sydney: S. Karger, 1979. 375 pp.
Handbooks CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Nutritional Requirements. Vol. 1. Comparative and Quantitative Requirements. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1977. 551 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. G. Diets, Culture Media, Food Supplements. Vol. 1. Diets for Mammals. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1977. 645 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. G. Diets, Culture Media, Food Supplements. Vol. 2. Food Habits of and Diets for Invertebrates and Vertebrates. Zoo diets. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1977. 462 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. G. Diets, Culture Media, Food Supplements. Vol. 3. Culture Media for Microorganisms and Plants. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1978. 647 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. G. Diets, Culture Media, Food Supplements. Vol. 4. Culture Media for Cells, Organs and Embryos. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, 1977. 469 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. E. Nutritional Disorders. Vol. 1. Effect of Nutrient Excesses and Toxicities in Animals and Man. West Palm Beach, FL: CRC Press, 1978. 518 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. E. Nutritional Disorders. Vol. 2. Effect of Nutrient Deficiencies in Animals. West Palm Beach, FL: CRC Press, 1978. 548 pp. CRC Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food. Sect. E. Nutritional Disorders. Vol. 3. Effect of Nutrient Deficiencies in Man. West Palm Beach, FL: CRC Press, 1978. 388 pp. CRC Handbook of Nutritional Requirements in a Functional Context. Vol. 1. Development and Conditions of Physiologic Stress. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1981. 542 pp. CRC Handbook of Nutritional Requirements in a Functional context. vol. 2. Hematopoiesis and Resistance to Physical Stress. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1981. 594 pp. CRC Handbook of Nutritive Value of Processed Food. vol. 1. Food for Human Use. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1982. 679 pp. CRC Handbook of Nutritive Value of Processed Food. Vol. 2. Animal Feedstuffs. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1982. 499 pp. CRC Handbook of Agricultural Productivity. Vol. 1. Plant Productivity. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1982. 468 pp. CRC Handbook of Agricultural Productivity. vol. 2. Animal Productivity. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1982. 396 pp. CRC Handbook of Nutritional Supplements. Vol. 1. Human Use. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1983. 564 pp. CRC Handbook of Nutritional Supplements. Vol. 2. Agricultural Use. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1983. 412 pp. CRC Handbook of Naturally Occurring Food Toxicants. Boca Raton. FL: CRC Press, 1983. 339 pp. CRC Handbook of Food-borne Diseases of Biological Origin. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 1983. 518 pp. The Rechcigl Genealogy: The Ancestry and Descendants of Mila Rechcigl and Eva Edwards with Information on Allied Families. Authors' Tranquility Press, 2023. 948 pp. ISBN 978-1961908161.
Czech-American activism In addition to his scientific work as a researcher and science administrator, Rechcigl spent nearly 50 years working with the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.Jaroslav Němec, "Important Anniversary of SVU Officer", Československý týdeník (New York), August 2, 1990 He was responsible for the first two of the Society's World Congresses. He also edited the Congress lectures and arranged for their publication, under the titles "The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture" and "Czechoslovakia Past and Present."The Hague - London - Paris: Mouton & Co., 1964. 682 p.The Hague - Paris: Mouton, 1968. 2 vols., 1889 p.
Rechcigl was also involved with most of the subsequent SVU World Congresses, including SVU congresses in Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Washington, D.C., Plzeň, Olomouc and České Budějovice. Prior to his last term as the SVU President (2004–06),SVU News, vol. 46, No. 5 (September-Oct. 2004), pp. 1-2. he held similar posts during 1974–1976, 1976–1978, and continuously from 1994 until 2004."Miloslav Rechcigl -New SVU President", News SVU, vol. 16, No. 4 (Nov. 1974), pp. 1-2"SVU Elects New President", SVU Bulletin, vol. 25, No. 4 (Nov. 1994), pp. 1-3"SVU Inducts New President", News SVU, vol. 38, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1996), pp. 1-3"Rechcigl again at the Helm of SVU", News SVU, vol. 40, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1998), pp. 1-3"Rechcigl Reelected SVU President to Unprecedented 6th Term", News SVU, vol. 42, No.6 (Nov.-Dec., 2000), pp. 1-3SVU News, vol. 44, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 2002), pp. 1-4
In 1999, in conjunction with President Václav Havel's visit to Minnesota, he organized a conference at the University of Minnesota on "Czech and Slovak America: Quo Vadis?"