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Date. June 16, 1977

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J. Lederberg

Telephone Conversation with Caryl Parker Moerdyke concerning E. L. Tatum

 

Caryl Parker is also acknowledged in the 1941 PNAS paper ("Genetic
Control of Biochemical Reactions in Neurospora"). There was again
some discrepancy about date, but that led me to go back to the journal
and find that the first paper was communicated October 8, 1941 (not
earlier, as I had been assuming). Her recollection was that she
started to work as a technican in June 1941, just after she graduated
as a Stanford undergraduate. At this point, the work was just getting
underway, but apparently they had already isolated one mutant and were
running down what its requirements were. She was doing all of the
usual work on spore isolation, and so forth. Later on she worked on
the penicillin project.

She was not able to tell me anything about the genesis of the dis-
covery. They would talk together, but much of it was over her head at
the time.

She thought that the Hungates would be the best lead, and perhaps
also Adrian Srb.

She will look through her own attic to see if she has any papers,
scrap books, etc. that might be helpful to this. She will also send me
the address for Mildred Cady in San Jose, who was the secretary of the
Biology Department at that time.

She was eager to cooperate and will be happy to communicate if she
thinks of anything else.

As far as she knew she was the first 'flunky" or technical assistant
working on the project.

P.S.
It is conceivable that there were reports to the Rockefeller Foundation
that might tie down some of the dates.

Also recall that Hager was making a strong point that they had worked
out the prospects theoretically, and were quite sure in advance what

they would find when they did the experiment.

JL:ek-f

Telephone # 322-3344

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