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J. M. Gershenson of Kiev, whom I have met personally and

 

whose genetic work on Drosophila of many years ago was of special
interest to me, recently sent me a reprint of a paper by his group
in the Division of Molecular Biology and Genetics of The University
of Kiev, this on the possibility of transfer of genetic information

from RNA to DNA during the reproduction of nuclear polyhedrosis

 

viruses.
_

Gershenson and his associates feel that this work has not
received deserved recognition outside of the USSR. This could well
be because most of the papers are in Russian. It is of course also
possible that there is skepticism as to whether the experimental evid-
ence justifies the conclusions drawn.

As a friend of Gershenson, I have promised to see that these
investigations are called to the attention of a group of U. S. in-
vestigators working in closely related areas. At first I was in-
clined to do this as a Letter to the Editor of Science. But on
second thought, considering that I am by no means familiar with
the technical details of work in this area, I have decided to keep
my promise to Gershenson by means of this communication to a group
of investigators I happen to know personally. Hence I enclose a
copy of the English version of a review article by Gershenson, et al.

The Englteh—titte—ef reference to the paper is: "Transfer of

Genetic Information from RNA to DNA in Nuclear Polyhedrosis Viruses."

i: De a Nomlaova Dutra, ae 1420 gp St py

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