March 19, 1962

De. J.J. Trentin
Department of Anatomy
Baylor University
College of Medicine
Houston 25, Texas

Dear Dr. Trentin:

| am very sorry not to have been able to hear your paper on
The Production of Antibodies in Clones Transplanted Cells'', but some
word of your recent results did, of course, reach here via the account
In the New York Times. ! am leaving soon for a six weeks lecture
tour In Japan, and will have one or two occasions to talk about the
cellular and genetic basis of antlbody formation. For this reason,
{ would be particularly grateful to you If you could let me have a
copy of the paper that you presented at Houston so that | can take
fédr account of it. If you are limited In the number of coples at
your disposal, | will be wery happy to send it back to you quite
promptly.

WH ae |

If | can Interpret from the very genera! account In the

New York Times, | would judge that you have done an experiment that
shows the pluripotency of established clones after transplantation.

If these celis are similar to those of the normal adult, the result
would, of course, disqualify Burnet's original version of the clonal
selection theory which supposed spontaneous mutability to be per-
missable only during fetal I!lfe. However, If the mutability proceeds
throughout the life, one would have to regard the !ymphold population
of any adult Individual as constituting a comparable clone, derived
from the zygote. It will be a nice matter of judgment to decide how
to do a critical experiment to test clonal selection In the face of
persistent adult hypermutabl lity of the lymphold celis. There Is no
patticular reason to expect the writer for the New York Yimes to take
account of such subtillties, but, of course, | had to anticipate them
In my own write up of the clonal selection theory, and | would be very
curlous to apply my own Judgment on the details of your findings. In
any event, | am really very pleased that the experiment has been done
so that whatever fact can be Inferred from It may be used as a foundation
stone of further analysis.

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics