Evening star., 1952-04-02
By Thomas R. Henry
Stcr Stoff CORRESPONDENT

CdlCAA1O, April Z!-4SOlaClOQ
of a mysterious substance which
may be the spark Of all life on
earth-the chemical which causes
cells to divide which is the basic
process of growth-was announced
by University of Illinois School of
Medicine scientists here today.
The announcement was by DR..
Albert w. SchWeitZer for a group
Of science writer's on a tour of
leading medical research centers
arranged by the American Cancer
Society.
All cells of all living things
presumably contain some of the
material which was described as
a protein-that is, nitrogen-con-
taining-fraction found in cell
cytoplasm. The substance, DR..
Schweitzer said, has now been
obtained entirely free of any Of
the nucleic acids which consti-
tute a large part of the cell
nucleus.
Rapid Cell Division.
It is hardly likely, it was
stressed, that the material has yet
been got in entirely pure form
and the work now is being carried
out with scarcely visible amounts
described in thousandths Of milli-
grams. It is tested by it's power Q
cause rapid cell division in Chi
Icago embryos.
It is able to speed up cell di-
vision to an average of one split
per cell each "a hours. This is
faster growth. DR.. Schweitzer said
than all but the most rapid cancer
growth.
Among the possibilities, it was
stressed. is that the substance
when it is available in larger
amounts will be great value in
promoting wound healing.
Meanwhile. it was announced
super-artillery of the sub-atomic
world is being directed for the
first time against malignant
growths. This big gun is the beta
tron. invented here a few years
ago, which hitherto has proved OF
considerable value in industry
It shoots out beams of electrons,
negatively charged basic. particles
of matter. at enormous energies.
These electrons either can be usd
directly to demolish cancer cells
or they can be used to produce
X-rays.
Pain Is Decreased.
To date Is patients. so advanced
that they were beyond possible
help from surgery or other kinds
of radiation, have been placed di-
rectly in the betatron beam. This
has brought about some decrease
of pain to almost all the patients
and with some there has been a
temporary disappearance of the
turnors.
The electron beam is used for
cancers close to the surface. 1t
can be controlled so that it can
be stopped completely at any
depth. It can be used to treat
b. east cancer. it was explained by
DR.. Roger A. Harvey, without
touching the lungs. When the
electrcn beam is used to produce
X-rays, however, they not only
rass through the tumor, but en-
tirely through the body of the
patient and are stopped by con-
crete wall 80 inches thick backed
UP by 20 feet of earth.
Catching filterable viruses, most
minute of living things, in the
middle of their growth process
that is, before they acquire tails
vas reported by DR.. S. E. Luria,
University of Illinois bateriologist.
Viruses Clearly Seen.
Only with the development of
the electron miscroscope within
the last few years has anybody
known what a virus looked like.
Now many of them appear quite
like minute tadpoles. They dwell
and multiply inside living cells.
DR.. Luria worked with the form
of virus known as bateriophage
which attacks sewage bacteria but
by the same methods other viruses
ATTACK cells of man and the higher
animals.