Evening star., 1938-01-01
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Stan Correspondent OF The Star.

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 1.-Discov-
cry Of three substances produced by
injured cells which in combination
may constitute the most potent heal
ing agent known to medicine was an
nounced to the American Association
for the Advancement OF Science here
today by the staff Of the Institutum
Divi Thomae, Catholic medical re-
search institution in Cincinnati
The healing effects are so remarka-
BILE. one Of the research staff said,
that If anybody else reported it we'd
call him q liar" Extensive third
degree burns, for example, are healed
completely In half the time required
by any other known agent and with
out the least trace Of scar tissue. All
other methods leave scars.
Like allantoin, recently introduced
by the Department Of Agriculture, the
newly discovered combination acts
as q stimulator of the growth and
proliferation Of normal cells. Appar-
emily 1t Is Natures own medicine,
produced automatically by the in
jured area itself The material is
obtained by irradiating yeast cells
the most convenient source-or liver
or kidney cells Of animals with ultra
violet light, which IS known to have
an injurious action on tissue. It can
also be produced with X-rays or by
chemical injuries.
Each Element Plays a Part.
The 1nstitutum Divi Thomae doc
tors are certain that the healing ma
terial consists of at least three dis
tinct substances which work in har-
mony with each other. One stimu-
lates the breathing, or oxygen intake
Of the cell: one acts specifically as
a growth stimulator. and one is con-
cerned with the cells ability to alb
sorb and make use of sugars which
constitute the fuel of growth. They
also have evidence, not as yet con-
elusive, that at the same time three
other substances are produced, each
Of which acts as an inhibitor Of one
of the first three. This introduces
a very complex problem. Why does
Nature 60 to the trouble Of producing
a healing agent and then provide
other agents to thwart it to some
extent on every hand?
One Of the possible mechanisns Of
cancer is suggested. This always con-
sists Of q wild, uncontrolled cell
growth. It also often follows con-
tinuous irritation Of tissues. 1t may
be, it was suggested. that there is too
little Of the inhibiting agents to
properly curb the stimulating agents.
with the result that they get out Of
hand. This, it was stressed, is highly
theoretical.
In order to obtain the substances,
it is essential that the cells be severely
injured, but not killed Definite tests
have convinced the doctors that they
are not a degeneration product of dead
cells, but an active secretion of living
cells. They do not know what the
substances are. Tests have established,
however, that they are not proteins
and not vitamins. A vitamin, bios,
obtained from yeast has been known
for some time to have certain stimu-
lating properties.
The discoverers believe that they
have hit upon one Of the basic mech
anisms of life. The fact that ex-
actly the same six substances are OBJ
tanned from plant and from animal
cells indicates that they are produced
by all living things.
The discovery throws light on one
Of the mysteries Of ultraviolet radia-
tion. Large doses kill with severe
burns. Small doses have stimulating
effect on tissue cultures and probably
on the cells Of living animals.
A common disease of tobacco may
have opened the door to the ultimate
synthesis Of life itself. The posi-
bility was advanced here last night
by DR.. w. M. Stanley Of the Rookie
feller Institute, first man to isolate
q filterable virus and last years win
ner Of the associations $1,000 award
for outstanding scientific work.
DR.. Stanley's tobacco mosaic virus
material was in the form Of q very
large, crystalline, protein molecule.
BY itself it was dead thing, but 1t
produced the disease. It consisted of
only a single moiecule, however COM
plex. But it would not reproduce its
kind unless it was placed in contact
with plant tissue. Then 1t proceeded
to multiply by the billions. Moreover,
as }s chara rteristic of all living things
it did not reproduce itself exactly. but
with slight individual variations, SO
that several species have been deter
mined among the progeny Of DR..
Stanley's original material.
Since then It has been possible to
isolate several other plant and animal
disease vir,lses, including the foot
and-mouth disease Of cattle, the
staphyloooeeus haeteriophage. parrot