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InLe area o biolo_q and medicine the Commission seeks t o develop the knowledge and techniques by which radiological and toxico1ogicz.l hazards associated ivith nuclear reactions and t h e handling of fissionable materials can be reduced or eliminated. It a l s o endeavors t o promote the use of the new research techniques made possible by atomic energy developents, i n order that biological and medical discovery may proceed as rapidly as possible. In this connection it i s especially concerned th z t the unique contributions its facilities can make t o the study of cancer be fully exploited. Too few doctors and scientists possess the requisite technical tr z bing to cope effectively with these problems. therefore cannot now be conducted on a scale commensurate with their importance as indispensable adjuncts t o other Commission efforts or as contributions t o better human living. The Commission took steps awing the quarter to overcome this shortage of personnel available for work i n the fields of biology and medicine by sponsoring a fellowship trainValuable assistance was rendered the Commissionls Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine, whicn met the quarter a t Los Alamos and Brookhaven t o investigate the a t those sites and consider proposed objectives and plans. Frojects undertaken i n connection with each phase of the Commission’s biology and medicine program tend t o be widely dispers.ed geographically, ‘ t h e i r location often beinc dependent upon the existence of a particular facility or problem a t some laboratory or installation, the concentration of qualified medical doctors in certain metropolitan areas, or the particulzr interest of sone institution in a problem of specizl concern tothe Commission. Major program activity during the quarter is outlined below: Brookhaven Nationd Laboratory. - during t h e quarter pfogress . w8s made i n defining the research program t o be carried out at this radiation on lower animals and plant life, inquiry into the functions radioactive isotopes can serve, and research into the Senetic effects It is expected t o include stuciy of the effects of Plans fora forty-two bed hospital were a,proved. I n co6peration vrith national ana state government authorities, a survey of plant, animal, and fish life in the ilmediate vicinity was planned as a basis for evaluating future c~aimsof injWy.
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! Argonne National Laboratory. - Increasing t h e responsibility of t h i s laboratory Yor reactor development made necessmy a correspondInvestigation continued of the effects on animals of fission products, and of the development, diagnosis and treatment of radiation sickness. ling exp n sion of its progran i n biolo&y, medicifie, and health Thysics. Oak ,Ridge National Laboratory. - Formerly known as Clinton 'ooratory, this center continued its work on the effects 4Nation of r a 2 t z n on heredity, on which subject an information conference aht";%-'I. long-term study of the health hazards resulting from radioactive v$/<i*''waste was launched. I n cooperation with the U.S. Public Health Service, a Improvenents developed i n isotope shipping \ @/'* containers further reduced the hazards from this source. \ Ofthe greatest importance would be any means for combatting treating radiation sickness, supplementing earlier wqrk done atthe University of Rochester, Investigation was begun of the use of rut in in Los Na3os Laboratory. - Biochemists synthesized several %tamins containing radioactive carbon. Studies w e r e planned of the effects of radioactive materials on bone, Hanford, - Construction was authorized f o r a biology laboratory building, greenhouse, ' exposure cells, and a gas-generating and treating { ht, which will house a broad radiobiology progran following completion Research durin;; the quarter was directed p imari ly to the effects of radiation on fish, t o assure that no injury occur to Columbia River 4 biology, medicine, and biophysics. S t i l l other proposals were under During the quarter arraneernents were made t o give financial support toa number of institutions for research inthe fields of consideration on i*ich final decisions ,had not been reached.. I n each instance the authorized research is concerned with the effects of nuclear energy and its products on the living organism. be directly a mli cable to disease states encountered inthe human being. The results may often Not being desirous of establishing the requisite staff for the detailed administration that would be involved, the COrmnission was fortunately able to avail itself of the facilities of the Office of Naval Research, which is .administering t h e contractual arrangements with the institutions ivhose research efforts the Commission has decided This joint program i s discussed more fully in Part V.
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Formal epproval vias given -y the Commission on February 5 , 194E, to a fourfold cancer research program: (a) Support of those studies being conducted i n Japan by tfie Atonic Casualty Commission which are concerned with cancer orits develo,ment, Free distribution of redioactive sodium, raciioactive iodine, and radioactive phosphorus f o r Provision of a limited number of hospital beds at certain of the Commi'ssion's laboratories s o that the unique equipnent a t those sites may be utilized to study the applicability of nuclear energy and its products t o the treatment of Financial support of institutional research concerning cancer znd related to atomic energy, Research on t h e Effects of Radioactivity on Flant Growth On h!arch 20 the Cds sion announced jointly with the Department of Agriculture a new research program t o investigate the influence of radioactive materials on groxth of crop plants. The research w i l l be financed by a grant from the Commission t o the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Kngineering and will be conducted by a number of State agricultural experiment stations cooperating with the Bureau. ?he problem of the relationships between p l a t growth and radioactivity has been the occasion f o r many experiments i n Europe and America,- but results have hitherto been conflicting and inconclusive. I n the new project radioactive materials will be used in both greenhouse and field'experiments on a variety of crops grown in different soil types. Threefold obJective of the research is: . additions of radioactive materials t o soil and fertilizer on the growth, maturity, yield, and composition of various representative crops; (2)to determine the influence of low activities of alpha, beta, and garma radiation on t h e germination of seed and t h e growth and vigor of seedlings; and (3) t o ascertain the influence of t h e radioactive material on the number and activity of the bacteria and other soil (1) t o measure the effect of
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Fellowship Training Program A fellowship training program in Le fields of biology, medicine, and health physics was approved by the Commission on Januzry 21, 194t3. Authority was granted for 50 fellowships in the medical sciences, 25 i n the biological sciences, and 100 in the health physics and related fields of atomic energy. offered; the predoctoral stipend ~1511be from $1,500 t o $2,100 per year depending upon the individual's need and his progress toward the doctorate;' the postdoctoralstipend will be $3,OOO per year, although more may be granted when deemed necessary. Arrzngenents were made f o r +he Rational Research Council t o adn in is ter this program in the same manner as the progra?l for the physical The Fellowship Boards which select students and sugervise their work are constituted as follows: Both predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships YCU.be The indikated response of applicants has been encouraging, Douglas Wlitaker, Chajlrman, Yrofessor of Biology, Dean of the School of Riological Sciences, Stanford University, Eric G. Ball, Professor of Biochemistry, Harvard Uedical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts . J. H. Bodine, Professor of Zoology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Howard B. Leks, Professor of Riological Chemistry, Director of t h e College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Baymond E, Zirkle, Professor of Botany, Director of t h e Institute of iladiobiology and Biophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. AM: POSTDOCTORAL FEUOWSHIP BOARD I N BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE Ti. C'. Gustavson, Chairman, Chancellor, University of Cebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. H. K. Hartline, Professor of Biophysics, Johnson Research Foundation, University of Pennsylvania, Fhiladelphia, G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Professor of Zoology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut ,
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Director of New York Botanical Gardens, New York, New York. L. J. Stadler, i'rofessor of f i e l d Crops, University of Uissouri, Columbia, Idissouri. The purpose of the fellowship program i s t o build up over the years the body of trained personnel necessary t o continue and expand investigation into the use of nuclear energy in biology, medicine, and seemed important also t o encourage and support educational institutions i n various regions of the United States which have expressed interest i n functioning as training centers. The following universities could already be said t o have been functioning i n this capacity: To insure adequate realization of this purpose it has University of California University of California University of Chicago Massachusetts Irist itute of University of Rochester Xes tern Reserve University Los Angeles, California New York, New York Rochester, New York The following additional Universities were selected during the The Universities grouped inthe followin2 list will cooperate quarter t o offer training courses and t o pursue research i n some related i n offerint integrated courses of training: University of North Carolina The Eo-man Gray School of Korth Carolina State College of University of Denver University of Colorado Oregon State College Chapel Hill, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina Denver & Boulder, Colorado Port lad & Eugene, Oregon
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The accompanying Table 1 sumnarizes expenditures for t h e atomic energy program for the period since July 1, 1946. The total expenditure. for each inter in period i s analyzed in terms of the mj or activities of the entire program, and i n terms of the principal offices which direct the activities. Inasmuch a s some of these oft'ices were only established early this,fiscal year, analysis in these terns for the period prior t o July 1947 is neoessarily somewhat arbitrnry, butis nevortheless offered a s providing useful perspective. The rate of expenditure i n the quarter ended 1;arch 31, 1948, was substantially greater than i n the previous tvro quarters. continue a t t h e same level during the preseat quarter, expenditures for the second half or" this fiscal year will exceed 5y 54 percent t!ie expenditures o f the first half year* If eq end it ure s
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