STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

2398 SACRAMENTO STREET

DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS SAN FRANCISCO 15, CALIFORNIA

September 29, 1958

Dr. Joshua Lederberg

Professor of Medical Genetics

Genetics Building

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine
Madison 6, Wisconsin

Dear Doctor Lederberg:

Icannot tell you how grateful I am to you for your positive and
immediate response to my telephone inquiry. I want to repeat again my
apology about the telephone call. I thought I had timed it perfectly
so that you would already have received Hank Kaplan's letter, and I am
sorry that it did not work out that way. I certainly appreciate your
taking the time to write to me before you went out of town. Your letter
which arrived Friday has been most helpful in providing me with food
for thought over the week end. Before I go further into the various
considerations which have occurred to me, I think it would be appropriate
to give you a little information concerning my background and future
interests. I am taking the liberty of enclosing my curriculim vitae
and also a copy of the progress report I have just submitted to the
U.S. Public Health Service concerning my current investigative program.
L hope that both of these may serve to fill in some of the gaps.

When I began to undertake laboratory research five years ago, my
approach was almost exclusively physiological, largely because I had no
background in biochemistry. For two years I worked at the problem of
carbohydrate metabolism in the newborn and premature. I found myself
getting more and more interested in the area of intermediary metabolism
and more and more frustrated because of my inadequate background. Two
years ago, therefore, I took a three months leave of absence from
Stanford and spent the summer at Wood's Hole. While there I took the
physiology course and also had the opportunity to do some special work
with Herman Kalckar. Thanks to my contact with Kalckar and later with
Bernie Horecker, whom I visited in Bethesda, I was able to re-orient
my research program so that I could use enzyme assays and isotope studies
to pursue pathways of intermediary metabolism. It was through Bernie
that I got together with Paul Marks, and this association has worked
into a most happy and successful collaboration. Paul spent a month in
my lab here, and I spent approximately the same amount of time with him
in New York. He has taught me most of the techniques which I have been
using, and both he and Bernie have been a constant source of help when
I have run into trouble. Thanks to all of these circumstances, L feel
that in the past two years I have finally managed to get my research
off the ground. Most of all I have found out how much satisfaction
there is for me in the laboratory. 1 have a wonderful research associate,

 
Dr. Joshua Lederberg ~ 2 - September 29, 1958

Ruth Hurwitz, who has had years of experience as a research technician,
and without whom I could not have made wuch progress during the past
eighteen months when I have also been acting executive of the department.
L think we now have a good approach to the problems we are trying to
tackle and that we have already unearthed some worthwhile information.

I must say, however, that I do not yet feel like an "honest'' chemist,
and it was for this reason that I had originally planned to spend my
sabbatical year learning more biochemistry. I went to the International
Congress of Biochemistry in Vienna with the hope of talking the problem
over with various people there and finding the place which would provide
both the intellectual and cultural opportunities I was seeking. I was
indeed able to meet a number of people and to get a great deal of infor-
mation during that week. To make a long story short, I could not con-
vince myself that there was a really ideal opportunity in Europe for
furthering my own research program and at the same time learning more
basic biochemistry. This was in a sense fortunate because it forced me
to face up more clearly to the question of exactly what I want. I had
thought earlier of the possibility of spending a year studying genetics,
but at that time I was considering a more specific program, namely, the
opportunity of going to Sardinia and working out the mode of inheritance
of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency among the large popula-
tion of primaquine-sensitive individuals there. I rejected that project
as being too circumscribed, but did not look fully into the possibility
of taking a broader approach to the field of genetics. This particular
block in my thinking persisted to the extent that when I heard that you
were definitely coming out to Stanford, I was most interested in pursuing
the possibility of getting Barton Childs out here so that we would have
someone in our department who could collaborate with you. The more I
thought about this, however, the more I became aware of the similar
research interests which Barton and I share. The main difference seems
to be that my work has been slanted more towards biochemistry and his
more towards genetics. Finally, the light dawned, and for the first
time I had a really good and clear-cut feeling about how I wanted to
spend my sabbatical year, namely, to study biochemistry and genetics.

I now feel strongly that, with a year of proper training, I can pursue
my own studies with more satisfaction and at the same time learn enough
background in genetics so that I can be receptive to all that you and
Art Kornberg will have to offer. I would not want to limit my study of
genetics to the field of mathematical concepts, but would rather work
under someone who has a strong biochemical and microbiological back-

_ ground as well.

With these thoughts in mind I have tried to find out what I could
in the library about the people you mentioned in your letter. I was
unable to run into anything that Dr. Kemp had recently published. Dr.
Lamy , from Paris, has a large nymber of publications, but all of them
seemed to be based on theoretical and mathematical concepts rather than
on laboratory investigation. Certainly Dr. Cavalli seems to fit the
bill much more closely than either of the former. What's more, I would
probably find it very pleasant tolive in Milan. It isn't Rome, but it
is Italy, and I think it could well be truly delightful. I am sorry

 
Dr. Joshua Lederberg -3- September 29, 1958

that I was not more specific on the telephone about my reservations

about England. The year and one-half which I spent there was in Oxford;
therefore, my main reservations about returning apply to Oxford and
Cambridge. I have spent six weeks in London and enjoyed it very much.

I am not opposed to spending a year there, if that is the very best

place I can go. I do not know exactly who is there and would appreciate
your advice on this subject. It is my impression, based on very super-
ficial knowledge, that the Penrose Institute is a good place to go for
theoretical genetics, but possibly not the best place for the type of
study I am looking for. Paul Marks has just returned from a visit to
Millhill and he thought there might be some worthwhile opportunities
there. I think I can sum it up by saying, I would rather be in Italy

at least for the major part of the year, but I am willing to chose London,
if you feel strongly that that is the wiser choice. Since I should stay
put for at least nine months so that my son can get a full year of school-
ing, I might perhaps spend a long period of time in one place and briefer
periods visiting other centers. I am giving up Rome with a real pang,

but I have no desire to waste a valuable year of my life from a professional
standpoint.

L feel somewhat apologetic about having unburdened myself at such
length; however, I feel that I must rely upon you for advice as to where
to go, and it does not seem fair to ask this of you without giving you
some of my background. I am writing immediately to Dr. Cavalli and will
not make any further inquiries until I receive your suggestions. I shall
make several applications for financial support, and I feel that my best
chances lie either with Commonwealth or with the U.S.P.H.S. However, for
the government fellowships, there is an October 15th deadline which may
present a problem. If necessary, I will put ina preliminary request
stating how I want to spend my sabbatical and then follow it as soon as
possible with the exact details.

I should close by telling you that I have discussed all of this with
Bob Alway and he is extremely pleased to know that I am becoming interested
in genetics and especially delighted that I have made contact with you. I
want to thank you again for all that you have already done, and in advance
for your future help without which I would be at a loss to proceed. Best
wishes.

Sincerely yours,

fad Maga

Ruth T. Gross, M.D.
Associate Professor in Pediatrics
Acting Executive
RTG: jb