OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
OPERATED BY

UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION
NUCLEAR DIVISION

Ll
CARBIDE

POST OFFICE BOX Y
OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE 37830

January 27, 1970

Dr. Joshua Lederberg

Department of Genetics

Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford Medical Center

Palo Alto, California 94304

Dear Dr. Lederberg:

Last week I went over to Cologne and talked with the people there
including the parents and the kids. These people have 7 children, only
2 of which have full-blown argininemia. Two of the brothers and sisters
have arginines that are somewhat high, like the parents, but no discernable
difficulty. We have purified the virus and screened it for virus contamination
using RKV from which it is clear. The parents have given their permission and
after the kids are again worked up, they will probably use the virus. This
will be on the order of 2 to 4 weeks I would guess.

The younger child, about 2, I think we can help as she has some spasticity
in one arm and one leg and seems only moderatly. retarded. Her sister who
is now 5 or 6 has progressed in time and has marked spasticity and can not
get around without a great deal of help. Her retardation seems more severe
as I gather are the other complications of convulsions and problems of handling
ammonia. In a nearby town, they have turned up some children with a similar
general syndrome. It is not yet known whether they also lack arginase.

I was quite impressed with the medical and chemical capabilities of the
group. Lowenthal appears to be a very excellent neurologist. van Sande is
a neurochemist. The people at Cologne are pediatricians and Colombo is a
biochemist from Bern. It was most remarkable to me that discussions could

be held with what superficially appears to be such a diverse group without a
single misunderstanding or hitch.

I will keep you informed on how things go.

Sincerely yours ,
we

fe, Rogers, M.D.

Biology Division
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