Dear all, Many thanks to all who replied to my question on who coined the phrase “you are what you eat – plus a few permil”. Thank you for confirming in which paper the above was mentioned first and for providing the correct bibliographical reference (see below) thereby reassuring me that my brain is not completely addled (yet). The phrase was part of the title of a conference presentation by DeNiro and Epstein and for future use (one never knows) here is the reference. "DeNiro MJ, Epstein S. 1976. You are what you eat (plus a few permil): the carbon isotope cycle in food chains. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 8: 834-835." Best regards, Wolfram At 06:51 07/11/2007 +0100, Dr W Meier-Augenstein wrote: Dear colleagues, Who originally coined the phrase "you are what you eat - plus/minus a few permil"? I have a notion it may have been DeNiro and Epstein (either in their 1978 paper in Geochim Cosmochin Acta or even earlier in a 1976 conference abstract) but (a) I can't find my copy of this paper and (b) I still wonder who of the two holds the copyright as it were. Many thanks. Wolfram ********************************* Dr W Meier-Augenstein Senior Lecturer Environmental Forensics & Human Health Lab. EERC, S.P.A.C.E. Queen's University Belfast David Keir Building 39-123 Stranmillis Road Belfast, BT9 5AG United Kingdom Tel.: +44 (0)28 9097 4015 Fax: +44 (0)28 9066 3754 Email: [log in to unmask] URL (Lab): http://www.qub.ac.uk/eerc/people/academic_staff/wma/wm_a/efnhh.htm