RESEARCH the Entomology Division's Pioneering Insect Physiology Lab. W. E. Robbins, newly selected for the post, comes from Kansas State College. His work on how chemicals act on animals is recognized in this country, and he has proved his talent in basic research. In his new lab, which will b e completed in a few months, Robbins will have seven technical employees—insect physiologists and assistants. At least one member of this lab will be working on systemic insecticides to learn how they act in host animals and, in turn, on parasites. Another project will include screening chemicals that can inhibit reproduction processes in insects. And a third will investigate the interactions of synergistic chemicals a n d their effects in regulating die growth of insects. • Blood Antigens. Looking to long range improvements in the quality of livestock, USDA's Animal Husbandry Division is setting up its first blood antigens research group. This lab, directed by geneticist Sam L. Scheinberg, will add to basic knowledge of antigens and how they influence characteristics of farm animals. Because blood antigens are a new research tool, some of Scheinberg's efforts will go toward developing analysis techniques for this research and reagents for use in blood antigens analysis. USD A says these five pioneering labs are just a start toward the broad program it expects to create in basic agricultural research. Other labs will be set up as the need for this type research shows u p in its various divisions. Both National Science Foundation and the Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific Research and Development have applauded USDA's action in "pioneering" basic research. They say the labs make best use of the nation's outstanding agricultural scientists. They also expect the labs will lead more students to pursue basic research in these fields.
enough to be seen readily with the unaided eye. This effect was first observed by Irene C. Minor at t h e National Bureau of Standards. She observed, using time-lapse motion pictures of a fatigue fracture, that materials were extruded from cracks in an aluminum alloy in surprisingly large amounts, considering the size of the cracks. In an attempt to obtain some of this material for identification, she applied a piece of tape to the surface of a specimen which already exhibited fatigue cracks. W h e n it was stressed for an additional thousand cycles, small bubbles formed under the tape. Use of the same technique in a series of tests shows that apparently the bubbles can be produced with some metals and not with others. The tendency to form bubbles is strong in aluminum alloys, weak in stainless steel, and doesn't exist in brass and zinc.
Needed: Men, Not Money Shortage of funds is no longer a problem for medical research, survey shows
A N E W ERA in medical research started in mid-1956. It was then that Congress established a new national policy: Henceforth, the U. S. would try to conquer disease through research, whatever the cost. With the $211 million appropriated for research at the National Institutes of Health, the $127 million being spent by pharmaceutical companies, and the contributions by universities, foundations, research institutes, citizen health groups, and other branches of Government, the total being spent for medical research this year will b e well over $400 million. To determine how this new affluence is affecting medical research, Merck selected the firm of Douglas Williams Associates to interview a sample of 113 research and government leaders. These interviews, lasting from 30 minutes to three hours, are quoted from Testing with Tape the 64-page Williams report, "The Pressure-sensitive transparent tape is N e w Era in Medical Research." more sensitive than a microscope in Merck's president, John T. Connor, testing for metal fatigue. W h e n the points out, "The survey shows, howtape is placed on the surface of speci- ever, that there are islands of poverty mens being subjected to torsion fatigue, in this sea of plenty. Basic research small bubbles can be seen under the is being neglected, *medical education tape as the first fatigue cracks appear. is in danger of being strangled, brainThese cracks are so small they can be power is in short supply." seen under the microscope only with These major topics concerned many, special lighting; the bubbles are large if not most, of the experts interviewed: 30
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• More basic research is needed. The public is held partially responsible, since it will approve appropriation of millions of dollars to "cure cancer" and be apathetic about funds to study cell physiology, which may or may not lead to a cure for anything. • Medical education is being impoverished to enrich research. Many top-notch people are being drawn away from teaching b y the abundance of research funds. • Brains are much scarcer than dollars. Many experts question the Government's spending program because, in their opinion, there are not enough people scientifically qualified to use the money effectively. • T h e Government's role is questioned. There is controversy over whether supporting research is a proper role for the Government, over howmuch can be accomplished b y money alone, whether the field i s vulnerable to government domination, a n d whether the Government should allocate all its funds to universities and others, instead of keeping a sizable sum for research in its own laboratories. • Raising money t o cure a specific disease is widely criticized. This is not only said to inhibit basic research but also to force scientists and university administrators to write their requests for grants to fit them into one disease category or another. • Patenting and producing new drugs discovered with government research funds has not received enough thought. Some of those interviewed were concerned, for instance, that the Government will get into product development full scale, that industry won't b e extended adequate protection for its participation in the development of new products, and that the p a t e n t concept will be weakened.
• Gossypol's chemistry and reactions will be studied at the University of Tennessee under a contract recently signed with USDA. Aim of the project: improvement in the value and marketability of cottonseed products. Considerable progress has been made in developing processing methods that reduce levels of so-called "free" gossypol in cottonseed products, b u t further improvement is necessary if markets are to be expanded and value maintained or increased.
