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By PHILIP GILLON.

ROFDSSOR Christian Boehmer Anfin- |

sen, a biochemist in the National In-

, stitutes of Health, Bethesda, was made i
of the Weizmann :' .
Institute this week, “in. recognition,” as:

.an Honorary Fellow

his Scroll put it, “of ‘his
, contributions te molecular biology, parti-

hs

cularly in the field’ of protein structure |

and function.” He. arrived at: the

ing with Professor Michael Sela. te

Institute «:
| three. weeks ago, together with his wife; ~:
~ he is to spend several months here work- ‘

Molecular biology wadé very much in
fashion a year or two ago, I say, when .

. we expected it to provide us with solu-

tions to many: Problems, © including the :

“secret of. life.

Tall and soft-spoken, with his height
and looks indicating his Norwegian origin,
although he was born in America, Pro-
fessor Anfinsen looks dubious. ‘Molecular
biology covers a lot of other disciplines:

.£ call myself a biochemist trained in
aspects of chemistry and biology. Some

~people seem to think that the most im-
portant discoveries have “already © bees
“made in molecular, biology, that the
' double. helix wrapped it up, but I think
that it just opened uP an enormous field
for us.”

What is his. particular interest ?

> “Pm concerned’ with protein stucture.
/'Tha aim is to understand how macro-
-molecules work :in terms of three-dimen-

‘sional structure. The genetic code deter-
mines what the linear code will be;
this ig translated into three dimensions,
Since the development of X-Ray crystal-
lography and computers, we have been
able to etudy this three-dimensional atruc-
ture.

“A very exciting development was the
discovery of ways to synthesise- macro-
molecules. Now we are engaged in what
you may call molecular engineering. We
look at the structrre of an enzyme, for
instance, and if we see a loop in the
chain that doesn’t seem to be doing any-
thing, we see what happens if we chop it
off. We say, let’s synthesise this without

. ae tT. apt et

Crepe el ea

: quality of the work at the Weizmann; :

 

‘numBer of friends | here. et Sela
came to work with us in Bethesda in
, 1856, and I enjoy working with him very

. much. Perhaps one
f of the main attrac-

my Norwegian origin
ties with Norway,

although I was born
and brought up in

¢ America. Like Is-—

rael, Norway is a

f small country, but: .

‘an energetic one;
even the language

. ’ sounds something
: PROF. ANFINSEN like Hebrew.’

“Of course a major attraction is the

 

it is one of the four, five or six places

|

 

 

tions Israel‘ has for -
e mé is because of

— I still have many |

eqn WNT SRR ne, ee eae abt ine eine cee —

‘hree- dimens ion I stud)

in the world. ne a thinks
of spending a hed de It is really a
phenomenon, as well equipped as most
American institutions — everything I have

‘at N.LH. ig here, in some respects the

Weizmann may even be better off than
many American institutes. The computers
are . phenomenal.”

Sclence-based industries have become
the vogue in Israel, and some people are
alleging that the Weizmann people should
come out of their ivory nee down
into the marketplace.

“Applied science has to tome
basic science -- you have to have
sclence to apply. The ideal is to
both. And’ to keep them separate.”

Science-based industries do not attract
Israeli scientists in the same.way as
basic research; there is a sort of aan
bery.  .

from
some
have

 

 

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y of protein structure

“I have heard that Israelis want to re-
main in. academic’ life. In the U.S. people
tend to move about more than they do
here, they go from ‘the academic life
to industry and back again. Of’ course,
.there are more opportunities in America.
iI think that applied science ig perhaps
better for a man who is getting a little
older,.who is losing the drive and push
needed to tackle new problems. The going
gets tougher’ end tougher as the years

| /pass.”

| But, fundamentally, ° you. do not think
that the Weizmann’ Inetitute should
ichange ' the course it has taken for the
ilast 25 years, should become more prac-
itical?

“Why change ‘eomething that has
brought so much prestige to Israel, that
puts a small country among the world’s
leaders in science?’ -