UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

   
 

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; SANTA BARBARA ¢* SANTA CRUZ

 

BERKELEY * DAVIS * IRVINE * LOS ANGELES ¢ RIVERSIDE « SAN DIEGO * SAN FRANCISCO

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA 92521 USA
19 May 1997 VOICE: (909) 787-6903

FAX: (909) 787-4286

Dear Josh,

I found two of the ancient reprints that you requested and have added two others on
similar problems. I have not kept up with the details of later work in this field--I had to leave it
after a bout with Coxsackie virus.

Those interspecific transfers were a great surprise to me. At the time it seemed reasonable
that, since every cell had the four nucleotides plus the ability to make DNA, that a cell from one
species in the egg cytoplasm of another would produce an adult of the nucleus-type. I really
expected the wood frog nucleus in pipiens cytoplasm to produce a wood frog. How ignorant I
proved to be. Later work showed that the chromosomes of the foreign species are broken up in
the strange cytoplasm. This phenomenon remains an interesting problem.

Tonight you will be talking at the Beckman and I sorely wish I could be there not only to
see you but you may tell the story of how, in FJR’s lab, you found that adaptation was not such a
fine proof that Lamarck was right after all. I do not know if I ever told you this story but shortly
after your discovery we got to the evolution section in the Zoology 1-2 class I taught at Barnard--
and told the students what you had accomplished. A few days letter one of the students asked if
her husband could talk with me. Of course. The time had to be at night but that was OK since I
was usually in the lab in the evening He came over to Milbank in the uniform of a naval officer.
Since it was well after hours, I probably had to go down to the front door to let him in. He asked
about your work and I told him all I knew, which was not a great deal. I asked him why he was
interested and he said he could not tell me but it involved an important project the navy was much
interested in. He seemed not to believe your results and interpretation at first but eventually he
did. His conclusion, “Well, that solves it for us.” What it solved I do not know but at least the
military went on to win the war. You can take considerable credit for that.

All my best to you and M.

Sincerely,

John A. Moore