Dr. Daniel J. Kevles

Professor of History
Sakxfaxrniaxinaktukexatxtechnaiagyx
Divsion of Humanities and Social Sciences
California Institute of Technology
Pasaadenia, California, 91125

Rear
Dear Prof. Kevles:

Thank ga you for your answer to my wife's inquiry concerning
arginase and the Shope papilloma virus. Unfortunately I did not see
your article in the New Yorker nor her letter. Neither did I see
French Andersons's Section on Genetic Therapy pulished in 1972. This
was the time of the peak of the reaction to such Genetic intervention,
as you probably remember. I am not personnally acquainted with Dr.
Anderson except through correspondence and telephone calls received
in the Spring and Summer of 1984 but am pleaded to report that these
contacts, largely informational, he appeared wholly interested in as
well as a suporter of my work. I thought you would find the facts as
I encountered them of particular interest as kay you were apparently
given some erroneous information by your source.

First in relation to the work being halted because the experiment
did not result in a diminution in the bldod arginine levels:

My work prior to pnvolmement with the Germanxchildren, aka because
of which taewhom I was introduced by Lederberg+was primarily concerned
with rabbits and Shope virus induced papillomas. Rabbits infectedz
with the Shope virus develop low blood arginines if the skin is
imoculated and/or low blood arginines. Mice, rats, mmakeys and monkeys
following inoculation develop low blood arginines but dogs (Beagles)
do not. People who have worked with the virus either in the lab-
oratory or in animal care often developlow arginines. Further with
the exception of the laboratory workers and helpers the contact was
with purified virus. Dr. Shope inoculated himself with the virus in
1933- His serum taken two years later revealed the lowest bood -
arginine yet encountered. “7% ftajtes te rhe tase datos wee points wr ~F He tte, The
emer beste is cléar ‘that association with this virus causes a drop in

the blood arginine in several species including man. The clagsic
geneticists at Oak ridge were so taken aback by these findings
some did not want the information to be made publick. At an infor
mation meeting held in Oak Ridge the Natidgnal Cancer Institute
representatives for whom I wa worked as well as those of the AEC
heard of these findings and felt that they should be confirmed in
blind tests by an independent Llaboratory=This I felt was an excel-
lent idea/Thtse tests were carried out with the cooperation of
Dr. C.A. Evans Chairman of Microbiology at the University of
Washington and Dr. Ray Bryan of the National Cancer Institute who
arranged for the independent laboratory in Philadelphia. Our resylts
were precisely repeated in each instance. It was clear that at
least in the speceis tested including man that ie Pa a means to
control the blood argininesx by virus infection, suggesting that
certain metabolic rae eee diseases could be similarly approached
therapeuticaliy. Neer tA Fie, Jes ben Yatrdyerd ine 78 Kye (eRe Li Sy
Tissue cultured &rsm cibroblaste from two of the German sisters
with argininemia were also infected with the _virus and the specific

+. Ye tia v
arginase induced and demonstrated there in. here ceil ‘

[rb ag aaa rep 3

In no instance have any of these infected people or any of the
animals tested developed ehanges other than a low arginine except
for the Babbit which developed papillomas at the inoculation site..,
i$ écond ern” bur work was halted samaxx because the experiment

did not work:

Cai

In a Study Section report concerning review of a related
applicdon involving the Shope and received after T nee moved to
Memphis from Oak Ridge because of support problems, ‘in’ ‘a “Federal
Laboratory, it was stated that I was likely to infet all the students
the faculty, and maybe kill a third of the people in Memphis."Disapn
proval." Another application similar in general but dealing with
modification of the tobacco mosaic virus RNA by addition of nitogen
fixing information carried b}¥ a plasmid to TMV RNA and subsequently
infectibg plants such as the turnip, elicited the response that I might
end-up with a Kudzu-like plant that might take over the world.

fp edt Porn The bavi ‘ede a dad ner: ie law oe roe €, [ss neh,
tAC qeita Plaf 7p an coeres lao OE be

‘Disapproval. " Ms Resa ciee peas ome de 7

+ fi (orpsiye feta /
This ricci Lan tig t® nhl rhea Claas my one’ tr

At times T think that in the ‘Middle Ages I would have been
burned at the stake instead I appear to have received it modern

2b le é,

equivalent. \ we

\y ¢ C eis
I

Peres
At Cal Tech Ray Owen mm kmew in some detail of this work with
the Shope, as did Sinsheimer, Rkkezea Dulbecco, and Dr. George
Beadle before thy left. At Johns Hopkins, Horace Judson now in a
position similar to yours, who” you doubtless know,has been as closely

associated with these children as any one except the parents and
2 rs ape
» + i r 1 fH jehe. f tend Prins feed yee
addvivtlit® bye wad th pree

ftee. ltr Pet J Adee rears (Fee

European doctors directly involved. .,,J,,n/r it smirge Paul

A reprint is enclosed.,
Thanks.

vithay
Sincerely yours,

Stanfield Rogers,M.D.
BEF: fi asherbesey
Retired

P.S. There is an excellent review of this field (1984) in which

you would be interested. The book is Bhe Gene Doctors, by Yvonne

 

Baskin, William Morrow and Co.Inc.,New York,New York, 1984.

J Pepys

HS EPG