Smyrna times., 1940-04-18
STEPS
AHEAD IN 1899
Notable Progress Made in
Solving Some Age-Old
Mysteries of Life
SOME ACHIEVEMENTS

Observation-Disclosures progress
has been made in 1889 in answering
some age-old mysteries Of the sci
ence Of life.
Can plants lose their green color
and still "eat'?
How did primitive vegetable cells
grow?
Can a baby rabbit have only one
parent?
Summarizing some Of the biclogi-
cal achievements during the past
year, the National Geographic So
ciety says: ''It has been believed
that plants live by the absorption
of the suns energy which they store
in the foods that they make. such
as starches and sugars. The theory
has been that plants can carry on
this process Rnown as 'photosynthe-
sis') only in the light, but DR.. E. D.
McAlister, Smithsonian institution.
found that it goes on in the dark
as well. The process is regulated
by a chemical as yet unknown. The
action Of the chemical, which is set
in motion by light, creates a time
lag, so that photosynthesis does
not start Immediately when light
falls on the plant and continues after
the plant is in the dark.
Mysterious But Common.
1.-The green matter in plants (chlo-
rophylD which enables them to con-
vert carbon dioxide and water into
carbohydrates (starches, sugars,
etc.) by means Of sunlight, is one
Of the most common things in the
world, and one of the most mystic
rious. Study Of this substance was
further complicated when Drs. 0.
L. Inman, Antioch college, and A.
F. Blakeslee, Carnegie institution OF
Washington, reported the discovery
in jimson weed grown from X-rayed
seed of second type of chlorophyn.
This is the first such discovery to
be made.
"Since the presence Of chlorophyl
is regarded as the fundamental dis
tinction between plant and animal
life in the one-celled section of the
biological world, DR.. Andre Lwoff'
discovery in his laboratory at the
Pasteur institute, Paris, that a
single-celled plant can be forced to
lose its green coloring. or chloro-
phyn, and to feed itself on vegetable
matter was of especial significance.
Further experiments may reveal
how animal beings evolved from
plant growth, so that life on earth
was not restricted to vegetation.
"One of the problems in studying
plant life is the difficulty of isolating
living plant cells so that elemental
life, not complicated by specializa-
ton, can be investigated. The first
pure cell culture was believed to
have been achieved by DR.. P. R.
White, Rockefeller institute. The
original substance was bit of prim-
tive cell material about the size Of
a grain of mustard, cut from wart-
like bump on a tobacco plant. In
theory at least, if the cells had been
provided with ideal food and not
smothered by their fellows, (that is
if part of the growth had not been
periodically discarded the culture
would have developed into mass
600, 900, 900 miles in diameter within
40 weeks.
A Fish Just the Same.
"A fish caught off the tip of South
America was found to be a coela-
canth. This type Of fish was pre-
viously believed to have been ex-
tinct for $4,000 years. The identi-
fication was made by DR.. ]. L. B.
Smith, Rhodes university college,
Grahamstown, South Africa.
"Rhesus monkeys, most useful of
all animals to medical research
workers in the study of such dis
eases as infantile paralysis, tuber-
culosis, and leprosy, proved to be
good pioneers. In an effort to OBJ
tain the animals more cheaply for
research in America, number Of
these Jungle folk were taken from
their native India to Santiago island,
half mile off San Juan. Puerto
Rico. Within less than year near
ly 100 monkeys have been born in
the colony.
"Climaxing years Of research, DR..
Gregory Pincus, Clark university,
was able to bring to normal birth
rabbit which was produced with
only one parent (by scientifically in
duced parthenogenesis). The ovum
from which the fatherless rabbit de-
veloped was not fertilized in the usu-
al manner but was subjected to a
saline solution and heat, and was
then implanted in host female
rabbit. BY the laws Of heredity
only female offspring can result
from this procedure. The fatherless
rabbit has already produced a litter
20 .,o,,,o in tho ordinary Wayb