(yc can bec rade.
a Blakeslee, Woes E, wl

CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS

COLD SPRING HARBOR, LONG IBLAND, N. Y.

april 16, 1941

Mr. M. EB. Gould
American Institute Science Laboratory
310 Fifth Avenue, New York City

My dear Mr. Gould:

We have gone over your letter of recent date regarding
the science boys! projects with our staff. There is general sympathy
with the scheme of these science clubs and the opportunity for these
young fellows to do work largely on their own. There is a little
feeling, however, that what some of the boys are planning to do would
be making a research contribution of some value. This was shown es-
pecially in Lederberg's last sentence. We feel that it would be un-
wise to have the boys feel that they are actually carrving on original
research work and contributing materially to the advancement of
knowledge. Their work may contribute ultimately, however, by getting
them familiar in this way with the experimental method at an early age.
Along the same line it was felt that it might be unwise to emphasize
unduly the practical importance of their experiments. In many of the
projects I would suggest a less ambitious anproach.

_——

“

\The only project that I feel competent myself in discussing
is that on polyploidy by Paul Berg. This is a more complicated problem
than the boy realizes and I doubt if he will be able to settle the
problem for the farmer regarding any of his agricultural practices, as
the boy seems to think.

I should suggest that he select a number of kinds of
flowers in which he is interested and try doublinr their chromosme
numbers to see if thereby he will get larger flowers. He would then
have something to show for his experiments which would be rather definite.
The first generation would be a mixture of cells witl normal ané
doubled chromosome number. For critical work he would have to depend
on the second generation, and furthermore in the secone fpenerstion a
high proportion of the vlants have an unbalanced number of chromosomes
as excesses or deficiencies due to non-disjunction, or deficiencies due
to lagging chromosomes induced by the colchicine. The unbalanced con-
dition itself would produce an effect which would have to be senvreted
from that due to the balanced chromosome number. To determine the
exact balanced chromosome number mcans microsconicul technisue with
investigation of meiotic divisions in pollen mother cells. This is not
Simple.

Some time if the boy cares to visit our Denvartment I
should be glad to explain some of the colchicine work to him, ané
would suggest a somewhat simpler problem.

-

+

io sroulad think it mircht be better if you could ret some
Mr. WM. E. Gould 2 April 16, 1941

consultants who are already in the city forr your boys.

If the boys should come down yp ere Some time Dr. Potter,
who is carrying on cytological and histo1o 772034 work with maces woute
he willing to give a little time to Gersho./} Diefenbach, ane Peorels
to Lazarowitz; and Dr. warmke would be wil tine to disuss Lederberg 's
problem with hin.

   

Sincerely yo
“y

Albert F. Blakeslee
Director

AFB: MN