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OSWALD THEODORE AVERY AND DNA ALVIN F. COBURN, M.D* To one who had no scientific association with Avery's work it seems appropriate to place the following information on the record. I am motivated to make this report because repeatedly I note that many persons in high echelons ofscience are unaware that Oswald T. Avery envisaged the implications ofthediscovery ofhis "transforming factor." As early as 1943 Avery did indeed understand the significance ofDNA in microbial genetics , the discovery ofwhich culminated his extraordinarily creative life as a member of the Rockefeller Institute. Avery practiced meticulously the sermon that he often preached to his assistants and to the many younger colleagues who came to him for guidance : "Apply your brakes when tempted to blow your own horn." His rigorous self-discipline, along with constant modesty and a deep humility —in the noblest sense ofthe word—made it impossible for Avery to go far beyond the "facts" in his published work. His high regard for the printed word deterred him from theorizing in print—only the "facts" were admissible—and his own wisdom certainly prevented him from pointing out the great significance ofhis discoveries, perhaps even to the many young men who had the great good fortune to work with "the Fess" (short for professor), as he was called. Prior to 1940 O. T. Avery was only a name—a name which belonged with Theobald Smith, F. Gowland Hopkins, and Marie Curie, persons who had created new disciplines for mankind to explore. Avery had opened the doors to the world of immunochemistry, an achievement vividly brought home by Michael Heidelberger, who occupied the laboratory contiguous to mine. Whenever Fess Avery was mentioned, Heidelberger manifested reverence to such a degree that there was a distinctpause * Visiting professor of pathology and research professor of orthopedic surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903. 623 in the conversation. ForHeidelbergerand themany younger scientistswho had sought outAvery for advice on their research, the Fess was considered the mentor par excellence. It was well known that Avery examined every facet ofa problem so thoroughly that the "consultation" rarely lasted less than two hours, and the researchproblem was frequently explored indepth for three to five hours. However, the Fess maintained a silence on his own work. This creative and sympathetic interest in the research ofothers touched me personally in April 1942. Because I was ignorant ofAvery's studies in progress, our first meeting was exceedingly painful to me. I had just been called on active duty by the U.S. Navy and was invited to attend an April meeting of the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. The subject to be discussed was streptococcal problems in the armed services, for already the navy was confronted with a high incidence of rheumatic fever in the recruit training camps at the Great Lakes Training Center. More than a dozen distinguished civilianbiologists were assembled in the conference room. There were tedious harangues about the streptococcal menace. Each speaker seemed to concentrate on the periphery but declined to take an aggressive stance. Finally, I was questioned. Nervously, I stated that without adequate preventive medicine or control measures, three things could reasonably be expected to happen: (1) There would be a high incidence and rapid spread of hemolytic streptococcal respiratory infections. (2) Certain strains would develop "mutants" or "sports" that would be highly infective (as contagious as postinfluenzal streptococcal pneumonia in World War I at army camps in Texas). (3) Perhaps one or more ofthe streptococcal mutants would be genetically resistant to sulfonamides. There was dead silence when I had finished. Nobody spoke a word of agreement or approval; there seemed to be no interest in what was obviously a figment ofmy imagination. Presumably I had used words that were not acceptable in scientific circles—;genetic changes, bacterial variation, mutants, sports. Soon it was time to recess, and we paraded to the lower level for a standup snack lunch. Chagrined, depressed, and fearful ofreprimand for my shocking verbal goof, I picked up a sandwich and a bottle of Coca Cola and slunk into a far corner to recover from my embarassment. Then, although I had thought that not one person at our conference table...

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