HARVARD UNIVERSITY

THE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES
16 DIVINITY AVENUE
CAMBRIDGE 38, MASSACHUSETTS

February 3, 1961

Dr. Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics
School of Medicine
Stanford University
Stanford, California

Dear Lederberg:

I have just been reading, with much enjoyment,
your "A View of Genetics", in which it seems to me you
cover an amazing amount of ground,with great clarity. I
am moved to ask a question in regard to the last section
on the creation of life. You regard DNA and its accompa-
nying machinery as part of "the least reouirements of a
primeval organism." Is this really so? If the simplest
organism was one which grew and metabolized and occa-
sionally divided up vegetatively, would the DNA system be
essential? If early organisms were derived from organic
material produced by TV irradiation, etc., may we not
assume that some enzyme proteins were among those formed
in this way? Furthermore , as I have suggested in "The
Life of Bacteria", early organisms may have lived very
slowly and some of their reactions may have been metal-
catalyzed and not enzymatic at all. The development of
the DNA system would then be regarded as a further step
in evolution. Do you regard this as wishful thinking?
It certainly seems desirable to try to avoid a situation
in which many complex substances must be developed at
once,

I would be grateful for your comments,
Yours sincerely,

/
Eo cxe ttt

Kenneth V. Thimam