: i Professor Joshua Lederberg
Ce enor BSE gOV The Rockefelier University

ce: jsl New York, N Y 10021-6399
Reply-to: (J. Lederberg)jsl@rockvax.rockefeller.edu

Subject: report on Berlyn DIR-9019995

10/7/90
Hoping the government is running again, for you to get this.

This project is primarily in support of the E. coli Genetic Stock Center. The latter is a most
precious resource, well-nigh indispensable to the bacterial genetics community. Its cheerful

and efficient management at Barbara Bachmann’s hands has for years been one of the most

constructive, cohesive aspects of scientific collaboration.

There is also no doubt of the need to codify and modernize the data that Barbara has collected
over the years, and eventually to standardize the stock center activities so they can survive
B.B.’s eventual retirement.

The approach, procedures, and prior work applied to this effort appear to me entirely
reasonable. I have not had occasion to be a formal user of the database (though have
frequently deposited and occasionally extracted strains and information, starting with the
aboriginal K-12, from the collection.) It is a little difficult for me to be sure that it has all thée™~
necessary ingredients, and look-and-feel, that would be optimal for the community. The
investigators seem to be fully competent, and they have the advice of a like advisory board;

so I have no reason to be anxious on this point.

Most blatantly lacking is any clear testimonial from Dr. Bachmann about how she herself is
relating to this project. I had called her a few months ago, to offer some assistance in
collecting bibliographic information; and she mentioned how abjectly computer-naive she was,
and that she was depending on Berlyn -- but all that seemed rather vague. Nor is there any
direct mention of the issues of retrieval, icw efforts to maximize the completeness of data
sources; an incomplete reference (lacking title and other biblio. details -- these being
importantly included in the printed versions in Microbiological Reviews) is all that is
footnoted in the sample responses to queries included in the application. So it is possible that
the project structure is not giving BB much support in that centrally important part of the
task.

More to be sure that this support is made forthcoming than any black mark on approval, I
hope you will clear up these and other elements of the relationship with BB. Perhaps they are
integral with the main Stock Center Grant, and there is no other reason why they are not
highlighted here. - &

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