October 16, 1968

Dr. Herman Witkin

Department of Psychiatry
STate University of New York
College of Medicine

450 Clarkson Avenue
Brooklyn, New York

Dear Hy:

I just came back from the meetings of the American Society of Human Genetics
where the two questions of XYY and of prenatal diagnosis were very much in
the forefront of corridor discussion. The main think I wanted to pass on to
you was that at least two XYYs have been found of moderate stature, one 5'6",
the other 5'9". Each of them, however, was the tallest member of his family.
I was not yet able to track down the quantdtdétéve measurements.

I am sure you also noticed newspaper articles from France and Australia,
respectively, on some legal implications of XYY. I would be very much in-
terested to read the full transcripts of the trials, but the news accounts
suggest that XYY was, as it should be, only contributory evidence with respect
to the defendent's capacity for a responsible judgment.

Sincerely yours,
a

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics

NIALL