Ella Tyree
Ella B. Tyree (born c. 1920) was an American medical researcher. She worked in the mid-twentieth century investigating effects of radiation poisoning in animals and potential treatments. Education Tyree attended Spelman College. She trained in biology. Career In 1941, Executive Order 8802 was passed to prevent discriminatory hiring practices in defense and many Black Americans sought work in government projects related to the Manhattan Project. The type of position varied according to education and training, but there were scientists, technicians, construction workers, domestic workers and janitors. In the Jim Crow era, these positions were an opportunity for higher, stable pay and for advancement. However, segregation and racist practices in housing were still common. Tyree became a laboratory technician at the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago during the Manhattan Project. She worked in the Health Division and managed the animal farm which supplied the researchers with subjects for radiation experiments. In 1949, her team, led by Dr. Harvey M. Patt, reported that preemptively treating mice with cysteine provided protection from normally-lethal radiation doses. They theorized that the amino acid could prevent damage to cells exposed to X-rays. The treatment could be delivered orally or by injection in the hour preceding radiation exposure,