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For Reference Use 01

CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS

COLD SPRING HARBOR, LONG ISLAND, N.Y.

December 10, 1945

Dear Tracy:

I am sorry for the long delay in answering tour letter.
I have been, and still am, horribly busy with work. Besides,
I would have like to know a little more about the future before
discussing your plan& for a course in genetics of migrsorganisms.
Nothing very new happened as yet. The only thihg which worries
me a little is the fact that according to Mac our teaching load
is expanding, and I might expect a very important increase in
the amount of teaching required of me, whereas I should reasohably
expect the opposite. This may meke me more inclined to accept
some other proposition, if any of a series of féelers recently
received should materialize. I certainly am enjoying the pos-
sibility for research offered by th@s& set-up here, although I
cannot always get as much done as I would because of the need
to supervise other peoplets work. I am makmuty trying to get
several lines of work started, besides getting immediate results.
The last success is that Miss J¥ Love (!), working with me, has
finally got to the point to obtain consistently good stains
of bacterial nuclei, se that we may look forward to lots of
experimental work on cytology. Also, we are working out some
basic data on population genetics of bacteria. My results
invtihde a new approach to the problem of phage multiplication:
I think this timetis going to work, and, anyway, the experiments
are ofthat exciting "high precision" type. If you are Fast
for Xmas, I'll like to tell you more about it.

If nothing happens, I should be delighted to partecipate
in your course on genetics of microorganisms. Genetics of
viruses has recently been discussed intelligently by Burnet,
whose book I am now reviewing, and new pertinent wotk on
mutations of phages is included in our program for next month.
The experimental material is available and@ simple. As for bacteria,
there would only be the embarrass of the choice. I am collecting
lots of material for a review on bacterial genetics I promided
for next July (I shal certaihly be late), with the idea of
using it as the first draft of a future book on the subject.
We are running a seminar course on genetics for bacteriologists
at N.Y.U., and more material is going to be coordinated in the
development of this course. T would expect that six lectures
and 4 laboratory secthbons would cover adequately the subject in
a course like yours, However, I wonder if ymasxk Neurospora
should get a large share in such a course, since the principles
involved in theater work are more of less the usual ones in genetics,
and the main importance is the xhemxekxzakx confirmation of our
ideas on the enzymatic character of gene controlled reactions.
From a laboratory point of view, however, Neurospora will not only
be interesting, but practically useful. Bacterial problems

may be the best on which to illustrate the principles of population
genetics.

How are your things coming? The family all well?
Best regards,
Ana