Evening star., 1942-08-21
Artificial Antibodies
Produced in Search
For Disease Immunity
Discovery by Research
Doctors May Open
Door to Great Goal
BY HOWARD w. BLAKESLEE,

WIDE World science EDITOR.
NEW YORK, Aug. 2l.--A new
kind of synthetic medicine, an anti
body against type III pneumonia,
has been made in test tubes at the
California Institute of Technology,
This discovery may mean that
science has solved the formula for
immunity to disease. and certainly is
a big stride toward achieving one of
the great goals of medicine.
Antibody is the common name
OF the host of mysterious substances
which are the natural defenses of
the human body against infectious
disease. The secret of the anti
body, so far as now known, is in
the shape of it's molecules.
For example, when person has
an infectious disease, like pneu-
monia, some of the body's protein
molecules are believed to change
their configuration, and, with that
change, to be able to help throw off
the disease. Furthermore, they offer
some immunity, occasionally lifelong
These altered proteins are the anti
bodies.
Antibody for Each, Disease.
For each disease, and sometimes
for each varying type of the same
disease, there is separate and
distinct antibody. But until now
only living tissue of sick person or
animal could manufacture anti
bodies.
The story of the California anti
body is told in the current issue
of Experimental Medicine, Rookie
feller Institute, publication, by Drs
Linus Pauling and Dan H. Camp
bell Of the Gates and Crellin Lab
oratories of Chemistry, California
Tech, and DR.. Pauling and DR..
Campbell started with the theory
that protein molecules under certain
chemical treatments start ullcoiling
like wrapped boxes whose wrappers
come loose at one end.
Furthermore, said the theory. 1t
Is known that such unraveling ends
OF protein molecules can be caused
to close up again, and If that clos
ing is done in the presence of
disease produced chemical the lat
ter will alter the shape of the closing
molecule.
This reshaped molecule should be
an antibody, the theory predicted.
and exactly that happened in the
California test tubes.
The pneumonia type III antibody
process was heat-about 1875 de-
grees Fahrenheit for two weeks,
with slow cooling afterward. The
protein was globulin from the plas-
ma of beef. Plasma is the liquid
part of the blood. and the globulin
is one of the proteins in the plasma.
Globulin Is common also in milk and
muscle.
To the heated globulin was added
one OF the complex sugars from
pneumonia germs-and in this case
the sugar all came from type III
pneumonia. In the mild heat the
protein molecules partly uncoiled
and then coiled up again on cool
ing. But in coiling their shape was
altered by the pneumonia germ
sugar.
In this way the beef globulin be-
came antibody for pneumonia type
III. The proofs that this happened
were striking. For one, the artificial
antibody caused the germs of type
III pneumonia to agglutinate. That
Is what natural antibody does.
Choosy in Reaction.
Furthermore, the artificial anti
body failed to cause agglutination in
types and II pneumonia. This
showed the choosiness, or specificity.
characteristic Of true antibodies.
Finally the artiflcally made anti
body also gave precipitation test
results, further indicating that it
has the properties of natural anti
body.
The Californians do not claim the
test-tube antibody Is yet as potent