Milford chronicle., 1962-02-23
1861 Was A Greet
Yeur In Research

men who direct the nations med1-
cal education reported.
An American Medical Associa-
ton poll of deans of medical
schools brought reports OF many
advances in medical science on
most of the major disease fronts
during the year.
Some highlights:-
Rapidly expanding knowledge
in medical genetics, so important
that the time is approaching when
many very serious human diseases
may be eliminated entirely.
New forward strides in the
search for drugs that will cure or
prevent cancer.
development and discovery o 1
new pharmaceuticals particularly
the new live polio vaccine, the
measles vaccine and synthetic pen
icillin.
Important new knowledge "a
bout hepatitis which may eventual
ly lead to a vaccine against the
only remaining epidemic disease
which is still increasing in the u
nited States.
Progress in application OF
electronics and computers to medi-
cine, a further bringing together OF
machinery and equipment, skills
and techniques, men, money and
methods to the benefit of man
kind.
Genetics-Genes and chromosomes
The single research area most
often mentioned by the deans re-
spending to the survey was that OF
medical genetics.
The discovery Of a relationship
between chromosomal abnormal
tiles and congenital defects was
hailed as an advance of major i'm
portance in genetics. The chrome
somes are one of several rod
shaped bodies which appear in the
nucleus of a cell at the time of a
cell division They contain t h e
genes, or hereditary factors that
determine physical characteristics.
In normal births the number of
chromosomes are constant in each
species. But, through i improve e d
techniques Of Identifying and
counting the minute particles, il
was learned that certain abnormal
birth conditions involve an inn
balance of chromosomes. An eX-
ample is mongolism, which was
shown to be consequence of an
extra TX" chromosome.
The genetic and physiologic i'm
Of in unnac and
chromosomes are of tremendous
significance, one of the e n s
wrote As knowledge of mans ge-
netic processes and their bio
chemistry increases, it should be
possible to reduce the incidence OF
genetic diseases, including perhaps
some kinds of cancer. Through
counseling, some genetic defects
could be avoided The results OF
other defects can be tr e t d
Through more knowledgable hand
ling of some of the conditions that
cause defects, such as virus dis
eases and X-rays, others could be
avoided.
The ability to study the chemi-
cal constitution of chromosomes
opens the door to a much greater
understanding of diseases n d
physical conditions W h ic h are
;hereditary in nature. Other birth
abnormalities that involve aber-
rant chromosomes include Kline
felter's syndrome, Turner's syn
drome and myelogenous leukemia
Turner's syndrome, for instance
results in retardation of growth
and sexual Development.
A unifying concept regarding
the cause of cancer emerged late
in 1861: Cancer, no matter what
the cause, is the result of a change
in the chromosomal nucleic acid
(DNA) of the affected cells. DNA
is the chemical substance of the
chromosome that plays a,key role
in both heredity and vital func-
tions of the cell. The arrangement
of subcomponents of DNA forms a
code in which all the heritable in
formation needed by the cell is
stored. Apparently cancer is
caused by a particular, though as
yet underlined change in DNA
structure which alters this infOr-
nation code.
Methods have been developed for
the isolation of DNA from the can
cer-inducing polyoma virus. The
purified DINA, like the intact virus,
will initiate the development of
cancer in laboratory n N a S.
There is a program now under way
for labelling DNA with radioactive
hydrogen so that the DNA may be
traced as it penetrates cells.
ChemOtherapy in Cancer:
For many years researchers have
followed thousands of leads in the
search for a drug or drugs that
will affect the course of cancer
once it attacks the human BODY
The basic cancer treatments still
are surgery and X-ray. But notable
progress was recorded in 1861 in
the search for a drug.
The drug methotreXate W a S
found to be effective in arresting
some so per cent of cases of a
highly malignant tumor found in
women, choriocarcinoma. In one
series of 63 women with chorio-
carcinoma, so of them lost all
traces of their disease and on the
last check up had been well for
periods up to five years.
This particular form of cancer is
itself exceedingly rare and its cure
means little in the overall cancer