Corran McLachlan

McLachlan attended his local primary school where he was one of two students in his class before attending Wairarapa College in Masterton from 1957 to 1961.{{Cite web |url=http://www.waicol.co.nz/images/collegecatchup_5_2.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=4 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113170416/http://waicol.co.nz/images/collegecatchup_5_2.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=dead }} It was here that he developed his interest in science, a discipline he continued to pursue. In 1962, McLachlan began studying at the University of Canterbury, and graduated with a first-class honours degree in chemical engineering. He then went to the University of Cambridge, where he completed a PhD on the reactions of carbon dioxide in alkaline solutions, supervised by Peter Danckwerts, in 1969.{{Cite web|url = http://globaldocuments.morningstar.com/documentlibrary/document/4a3ab72822c96213.msdoc/original|title = a2 Milk Corporation Report|date = |website = |publisher = |last = |first = }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

While at Cambridge, McLachlan met a German au pair, Ulrike von Thielen, and they were married within seven months. The couple went on to have three children.

In 1970, McLachlan returned to New Zealand and began working in the Chemistry Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. In 1974, he won the first United Development Corporation inventor's prize.Woodford, K. (2007) Devil In The Milk. Illness, heath and politics. A1 and A2 Milk. Nelson: Craig Potton Publishing. Pg. 20

McLachlan first became involved in the dairy industry in 1989 when he became the managing director of Tenon Developments. In a joint venture with Morrinsville Thames Cooperative Dairy Company, they developed a method of producing cholesterol-free butter and low-fat meats using extraction technology. He remained the managing director of Tenon Developments Ltd until his death.

While the research project was dropped by the New Zealand Dairy Group, McLachlan's interest in the subject of cholesterol and heart disease remained. He spent five years investigating a potential connection between A1 beta casein protein consumption and heart disease.

In 2000, he formed A2 Corporation, backed by Howard Paterson to license technology for testing, production and use of milk containing only the A2 beta casein protein and no A1 protein (primarily which the BCM-7 peptide is a variant of) in cows' DNA.McDonald S. (2001). ‘Groundbreaking research into heart disease’, The Devonport Flagstaff’, May17, page 15.

McLachlan began his research into milk consumption and heart disease prevalence in different countries in 1994 and continued this work for five years. His research concluded a strong link between the consumption of the A1 beta casein protein and Ischaemic heart disease, childhood Type 1 diabetes and other ailments, and he believed that many people thought to have lactose intolerance are instead sensitive to the A1 protein. Using a genetic test, McLachlan was able to identify cows that produce only the A2 protein.{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/a1-milk-a2-milk-america|title=You're Drinking the Wrong Kind of Milk|work=Mother Jones}} McLachlan's conclusions were not accepted among all scientists; many pointed out that the research was ‘correlative, rather than proven cause and effect’.Ingram M. (2001). ‘The pinta revolution’, The Times’, April 24, page13.

McLachlan authored 29 scientific papers and confidential reports and was awarded 11 patents. In 1995, McLachlan was made an honorary senior research fellow of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland.

McLachlan died of cancer on 9 August 2003.{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=3517547|title=A2 loses second founder|work=The New Zealand Herald|date=20 June 2023 }} At the time, acting chief executive of A2 Corporation, Andrew Clarke, said, "This has been a double tragedy for A2", referring to the deaths of both McLachlan and Howard Paterson within a short period of time.

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Category:1944 births

Category:2003 deaths

Category:New Zealand chemical engineers

Category:New Zealand food writers

Category:Food scientists

Category:People from the Wairarapa

Category:People educated at Wairarapa College

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge

Category:People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand)

Category:20th-century New Zealand businesspeople

Category:Deaths from cancer in New Zealand

Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland