Biotech Brilliance

By Robert Graham

Dr. Gary Calton (MS 68, BS 65) is a lifelong entrepreneur with an intimate understanding of the Biotechnology field. Enzymatic production of the amino acids in aspartame marked Dr. Calton’s frist entry into biotechnology, a field whose importance will intensify as the 21st century matures.

President of Calwood Nutritionals, LLC, Dr. Calton formed the company in 1999 “to produce good tasting nutraceuticals” a decade after the term ‘nutraceuticals’ first appeared.

Nutraceuticals are food-derived products that provide benefits beyond a food source’s native nutritional value.

Dr. Gary and Sandra Calton with Clytie Calton and Dr. Steven Gamble at the George and Clytie Calton Lecture Hall dedication in 2005.

One of Calwood Nutritionals first projects was to develop palatable foods for kidney patients needing to restrict their protein intake. “This was a significant advance as the amino acids have been available for nearly 50 years and most of them have tasted so bad no one would eat them,” says Dr. Calton. Not only did he innovate in the field of nutritionals, but also in philanthropic giving.

The Wall Street Journal in 2012, featured Dr. Gary and Sandra Calton’s (BS 68) donation as an exemplar in Nicole Wong’s “An Introduction to College Giving.” The Calton’s donated science equipment and instruments valued at $500,000.00. The instruments included ultra-freezers, incubators, centrifuges and beakers. “It would have been a long time until the University could have afforded equipment like this,” says ENMU Biology professor Dr. Manuel Varela. Effectively, receiving the equipment raised ENMU’s biomedical research profile while allowing the University to undertake research for which other New Mexico higher education institutions may not have the capacity.