“The Pill Comes from Mexico?” Wild Yams, Steroids, and the Global Quest for Pharmaceuticals

UCSB History Associates Presents a special event for All-Gaucho Reunion Weekend.
Professor Gabriela Soto Laveaga will talk about the wild Mexican yam called barbasco that transformed modern pharmaceuticals, and tell the story of the peasant farmers who learned how to deal with the world’s biggest drug companies.

In the 1940s, rheumatoid arthritis afflicted more Americans than cancer, polio, and tuberculosis combined. What seemed more troubling, however, was that there was no apparent cure. Though research with steroid hormones had yielded some remarkable results, it was nearly impossible to synthesize steroids in commercial qualities. But research taking place in Mexico, using wild Mexican yams, transformed patent medication and chemical research in the 20th century. It also laid the groundwork for the creation of the first active oral contraceptive, made in Mexico but patented in the U.S.

Although Mexico and Mexicans do not feature prominently in most accounts of scientific discovery during the 20th century, this talk hopes to encourage thought about the social consequences of the global search for medicinal plants by focusing on the thousands of Mexicans hired to dig up the wondrous, steroid-producing yam.

The talk will be in Room 4020 of the Humanities & Social Sciences Building (HSSB), on the UCSB campus.
Admission is FREE and parking is also FREE (courtesy of the UCSB Alumni Association).

For more information, or to make arrangements to accommodate a disability, call UCSB Community Relations at 893-4388.