Minutes of Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine Thirty-Fifth Meeting, January 9-10, 1953

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The thirty - fifth meeting of the Advisory Committee for Biology and 3iedicine was , Saturday, January 9 and 10, 1953. Dr. Gioacchino Fail la Staff of Division o f Pir. Herbert A. Stanwood Eiinutes of Ihieeting held a t the AEC i n Washington, D.C. on The Chairman convened the meeting minutes of the thirty-fourth meeting of the Advisory Committee for3i ology and Xedicine were placed before the Committee by the Chabmzn. FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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h motion was made by Dr. Failla,.. Travellf (page 5 ) should be corrected t o read as follows: Wr. Bugher requested the views of the Committee on the amount of sup-jort that should be afforded members of the staff of the various laboratories by the Division of -iology and I n this connection, Dr. Stern krought out that in the travel of individuals to foreign countries a distinction' ,. . * should Le macle between an inditidual desiring t o visit laboratories and an indi7:idual desiring t o attend a congress, especially where the individual is t o present a paper. Dr, Gregg commented that if the individual i s going t o present a paper ata congress, all of ilis expenses would be ;let, i n most instances, and t h a t if there had t o be a choice between two individuals, he wocld favor the Dr.Fail la stressed the desirability of foreign travd. contrilxrtc t h a t would enhance the standing of thG Division of 3iology and Piedicine of the Atomic Energy ComnLssion, t h a t ;Jerson should be given preference. Dr.Fail la further stated that he t,hinlcs it would be preferable not to pay all thc e-qensos of such atrtp but t o expect the individual t o make some He sugpsted that when individuals had something t o \contribution of his own. t b Therefore, after afull discussion it was the sense of the Committee that arrangements for foreign travel snould lx

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considered a s rather fl cAble and not be held e.g idly to a firm rule of one person per yea per major unit md that the individual selected should bc rcgmded 8s representing the Atomic Ehrgy Canmission whether or not a l l of his expenses are to he paid by funds from the Atomic h w gy Cods sion. Tho discussion on the research The Committee was particularly interosted i n the work now being carric:d on st the University of Rochester under the suporvision of Dr. Louis Hempelmam. Haggorty and covered the following subjtcts, namely; irradiated rats; (2) thi: effect of liva injury on the mortality of irradiated r a t s ; ( 3 ) the urinary excretion of dcsoxyribonuclease i n irradiated rats; (4) the plasma and urinary amino acids in irradiated dogs; and (5) blood changes i n The report was summarized by F i r * Clinical experimmts arein progress on: (1)urinary corticords i n radiztion therapy patients; (2) eosinophil counts in radiation therapy patients; ( 3 ) physiological changes i n irradiated skin o r lung of therapy patients; and (4)l a t e follow-up of children whose thymuses were irradiated in infancy. Animal expriments i n progress include8 (1)a study of the f r e e glycine pool and tho rate a t which glycine

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enters the free glycine pool i n irradiated and rormal rats; (2) blood flow i n 3rradiatod tissue; (3) tissue breakdotm i n adrcnalectomizcd and non-adrend rats exposed ta totd. and partial body irradiation dth X-rays; and (4) inhibition of mitotic activity 'and chromosome fragmentation prodiced by irradiation of mice. It was stated that due to Dr. Hempblmm's f o r m a conncctions with the Atomic Energy Commission programs, the University of Rochester had waived the overhead charge on this projcct; however, the University of Rochester statad t h a t this vas not t o be considered as a the request of the Divislon by supplying a l l thc additiondinformation required rcgarding his current budget. I n connection with the over-all discussion o f the projects, Dr. Gregg pointed out that when a staff member of the Division visits a project it is importalt that the project be brought t o the attention of an appropriate representative of t h e University's administration. It was his view t h z t if this 2rocedure is followed thcre w i l l not be any possibility for the invcstigator t o feel that he has no responsibility t o the University nor thky t o him with respect t o the projcct. The Committee reiterated their previous vicw that t h e Commission s,hoUld be advised from time t o time that the rese.rch activities of the Division of 3iology and Fiedicins are now widely

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spread throughout the United States ad that they are not concentrated i n the east- part of tht. United States, and furthermore, that research contracts have hen awardcd t o colleges and universities i n all but four states of the Dr. Bugher l e d thc! discussion on the modeb of entry to worthj investigators i n small institutions. many smU institutions are not aware that support is available for research pumoses, and they usud2.y suffer from a feeling that thy would not be able t o obtain an audience Fr" tlxy attempted t o make the necessary contacts. He stated that The remarks that followed brought out the following suggestions: periodically pointing out that the Atomic Ehergy Conmission (Division of 3iolOgY and lk dic ire)is desirous of receiving applications for research pro jacts. Ljlcewisc, such an announcemunt could be made i n the Journal --of the ,5erican Association -of University Professors, the iaerican kssociation ---of Land Grant Institutions, and similar journals, an article of some lcngth be pliced i n Science from time t o time sunnnmizing the contracts t h a t have been acccptcd by the Division of 3iology and I4iedicine and what has ken accomplished under the sponsorship of the ;,tomic Energy Commission. k short article could be placed i n Science In addition, it was further suggested thzt klist of the projects approved during of the analysis of our resewch probrvn from the standpoint of the utilization of punch cards (I.B.M.). D r . Bugher reported on the status. He described the aquipmnt and explained the codes FOR OF FIC Ii J l USE ONLY

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for the an.il.,.sis of the sci cdi fic projects that are being esta blis bd 3s Well by the Committee and a demonstration of its operation was very ably presented :Q Visit t o National mrcau 308 The Committee visited the Nationd mrcau of St dads on Friday Dr. ,...V. ,,stin, the Dircctor of the Bureau, and Dr. Le SI Taylor, the Chief, I,tomic and ladiztion Pwsics Division, k v e organizbd the work. They had planned an interesting itinerary, and a summary of each program was presented. The progrm is attached as I&ppundix3. Reactor Accident - Chalk River- The Chzirman reconvenkd the meeting a t 9200 a.m. Dr. Bugher opened the session by reporting on the reactor accident a t Chalk River. In connection with this report he stated thata study of the accident i s now being made b~ a selected group from Aomic mmgy Commission installations from which will emanzte a fill re?ort t o the Commission. probability the reactor will be slmt down for atleast six months or long=. , It m s brought out that in all Walfiuke Slope Dr. Bugher advised the Committee that the Comission has taken action t o release a relatively small amount of the FOR OFFICLLL USE ONLY

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Wahluke Slope ares a t Yxdord. The area to be cpr;ned consists of sppproxinately public bj; a press relcasc from tk very frankly thb hazkds which exist in the 3anford area if farm fax i lies do Iie stated i'utiier that this informction will be given t o the kcrgy Commission, and it 1~511s tzte settle on t h e newly relcasud lands. - Bioiogical Station a t The desirability 02 esta.blis;liry a small lxiological station a t Eniwctok - for continuing and axtending the biological work in.the test arc8 was discussed by the Comnittos, Dr.Wilbur led the discussion, and he s t z t c d that since l?b7 the Division of diology and 1.iedicine has sponsorkd a program of studg- of t h s radioactive contaminLtion of ;3lcmts, fish, and other marine -1s 02 t h e dikini and Eniwctok areas. This has been carried out by biologists f r o m tne University of Washington who have mdc several expeditions t o these areas for the collection of material for later analysis a t Seattle. For continuing the biological studios i n the test moa, it would seem desirable t o utilize existing facilities ?-tEniwetok as a permanent biological station. This would ?c.rmit a closer stu&j of contminntion of water and land areas from t e s t activities and waste disposal mu would mrr!;e possible for the first the find msn tal biological studi urc l ; ? tdto the ocology and food rCsources of thzt m e a of the Pccific. It was pointed out that an e;dstihg build iw on Pcrrf Islmuld would bc. used t o provide woridng space fora fcw biologists from Aomic Energy Comnission lzborstories and universities who might

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wish t o carry on studies in the area. It i s prqposod t o Unit thc initid activities 02 thc station to modest proportions ~ t hannud- operating costs n t a level ;lot t o exceed 920,000 until tha success of the station has become f i d Y a* -' * a bcologiczl station at Eniwetok be further investigated with a.vicw towxd its establishment, and tlizt a staff pcper on this subject be prepared f o r consideraStatus Report of Over-all of the Division during the. past year. The Branch Chiefs described the in divi dud Instnunonts, and Prog rmi a a lysis which incltldod the budget estimates, and reportkd on the progress and pro blas connected therewith. O f major interest was ths report on the survey t h c t was =de t o determine the present status of the re lzt iv ely new radiation instrummts industrJ. It was brought out that of the 75 companies i n the field most of than ma'king radiation instruments, (34 replies have been received) it was found t h a t 6 companies arc grcssing over a million million dollars i n 1948 t o an eq cc tod gross t o exceed twenty million doll as Dr. Bugher oriented the Comdttee on That sd,es haw increzsed from slightly less than four and a half i n 1952. Th6 anJloynmt has grown from 130 people i n 19&' t o around am. i n r) Emphasis on the Various Spec ts of the Rcsoarch ?rogram D r . Bugher oponedthc discussion, and among the problems that he outlined whcrain emphasis was baing placed was the work on the biological e f f e c t s of

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neutrons. -He stated t&t Chis has been made possible in part bj thc r is u lts of piany programs were summarized. The Committee comwnted freely, and thcy made sevcrnl suggestions wherein rosericrch could bc strengthened. They strongly urged Ahat additional work should be initiated on thc radioactive pn rti cle problem. It was also suggested that it would be well to investigate 1 ,~3 t h o question of the yrotcctivo mzterial in the spleen and bone marrow preparations' Civil a fcc ts Test Progrm and Biomedical Test Program of the Tcst Organization, with the assistance of Dr. Plough and Dr.ChuS summarizud the p r ~ limin qplans for the Civil Effects Test Program for the stated that a great deal. hzs been accomplished i n the prog rm through the Bio md icd Tost Plmning and Screening Committee and the Structural Screening thcy !lave passcd on thsm 3s t o t k i r merit and whether o r not the work was 14r. Corsbie, who has b o a rimed ..Nr, Corsbie exqlaincd the programs indo tail and he The Committees ,have examinkd a l l of the proposals, and necessmj, whether or not it had been done previously, and whether it could be achidved i n somc; m y short of a field test. with thr; proposed plans m d expressed t k opinion that thc staff had been Wisely selcctod for cz r ying out such avast program, meeting of the Committee should be held a t the ijcgonno National Laboratory onI t Friday and Saturday, March 13 and U, 1953. FOR OFFICU USE ONLY

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The thirty-fifth meeting of the Advisoqr Committee f o r Biology &d 'Medicine is to be held on Friday and Aaturday, JmuW 9 and 10, 1953 at the Atomic En era Cds sion, Washington, D, C., Room at 1. 9-03 A.M. Coqsideraticn of draft minutes of the thirty-fcurth meeting -held at the Braokhaven National Laboratoq in Upton, New Y w k on December 5 and 6, 1952declined during the month of December, 1952. Projects 2. 9:lO A.M. Review of research projects approved, extended, and 3. ll:3O A.M. Leave for National Bureau of Standards Lunch - Tilden Gardens Dinner - Kennedy Warren The Division of Biology and Medicine has under consideration a Laboratory at Eniwetok which would provide miniraal FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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facilities for binlogists wishing to carrg on studies in the Marshall Islands region. The objectives wod-d be t c fulfill a need for fundamental biolpgicd. studies of that area of the Pacific and to initi;te new lines of approach in marine studies by utilizing the peculiar advantages offered by the presonce of radioactivity ir, Eniwct:k waters. It is also anticipated that such studies on the flora and fauna of the area would contribute to a fuller understanding of the effects of atomic detonations. .The concurrence of the Committee is requested in the recommendatiun of the Division to establish a biological Iaborstory at Eniwetok. 9 . 2:OO PJI. -'Discussion of dugree of emphasis that should be given various - aspLcts of rosearch prograrcs in forthcoming year. io. 3:oo P.M. content of the civil FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY