Even with a varied diet, vitamin or mineral deficiency isn't uncommon, specifically when it comes to magnesium. An estimated 75% of US adults aren’t getting enough magnesium in their diets.

Koch combated multiple failures when he tested starch paste, coagulated egg albumin, and potato slices as solidifying agents, until he finally found that a gelatinous substance called agar solidified ...

Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2014;15(5):471-485.