Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-06-23
Major Discovery Is Reported
By Immunity Researchers
By PETER HAHN


NEW YORK, June ga
breakthrough in the field of
lmmunology has been an
nounced by team of scientists
working at what may be Ameri-
cas- most unconventional re-
search institution.
The breakthrough is the dis
covery Of "reStims" (short for
resistance stimulators"), a
group of lipids (fatty sub
stanceS) that somehow stimu-
late resistance to disease.
Added to a vaccine, the new
substance will increase the vac
cine's effectiveness more than
1000 per cent, it is asserted.
The team which discovered
this new compound consists of
more than 20 men and women
working in a converted goat
barn in Ridgefield, Conn.
Few Are Physicians
The shingle on the door reads
New England Institute for
Medical Research" but only a
few of the scientists there are
physicians. The others are
mathematicians, chemists, cleo
tronicS engineers. physicists,
psychologists, biologists and
biologists, all young, but tops
in their fields.
Their product: Basic re-
search. Their credo: Absolute
freedom to pursue knowledge.
Their method: Close co-opera-
ton through interdisciplinary
communication.
I'VE may start out by dis
secting fruit flies, and end up
with a better way to vulcanize
rubber" says the head and
founder of the institute, 40
year-old DR.. John H. Heller.
Hardly a week passes that my
colleagues and I don't find
something absolutely new, and
fascinating"
DR.. Heller is a physician-or
rather, was originally a ply
Sician-when he started his I'M
usual institute. Now all of us
are trying to become what I
call 'generalistS,' a concept
closely related to the old Brit
ish term natural philoso-
pier,'" he says. Benjamin
Franklin was one of those"
Intrigued by Mystery
DIR. Heller's unconventional
methods, and the universal
scope of his undertaking, are
best demonstrated by the his
tory of his teams most recent
discovery. the "restims." Here
is his account:
"a few years ago, a few of
us got to wondering about the
mysterious resistance a hu-
man being has, or doesn't have,
to disease" he says.
I'VE knew that the human
body contains disease germs
practically at all times, but
that only under certain condi-
tons can these disease germs
prevail against the body's
natural defenseS - the special
cells which 'gobble' up the dis
ease germs. Our question now
was, What depresses these
defensive cellS?"
Right from the start we
found ourselves faced with a
tremendous problem. We had
to devise a method whereby
the 'gobble-rate" at which the
body's defenseS defeat disease
germs could be accurately
measured. We didn't want to
use the traditional method of
injecting laboratory animals,
and studying them, because we
were interested in fundamental
data on healthy bodies, not
those stricken with sickness.
e Came Up With Answer
$50, we set out to create
pseudo = bacteria microscopic
bodies, which would not have
toxic effects, but which, as
alien intruders, would cause the
same reaction as disease germs.
ave asked the chemists on
our team whether they could
come up with a suitable an
swer. They did. By applying
poIymer (plastics) chemistry,
they were able to create tiny
plastic spheres, 1/250,000 of an
inch in diameter, which coulo
be injected into our test ami
mails.
"When we proceeded to in
ject the newly created pseudo
basteria,' we found that they
we're gobbled up just like real
bacteria would be. They dis
appeared without a trace.
$50, we had ito label our
tiny plastic spheres, to be able
to detect them once they had
been dealt with by the bodys
defenses. For technical rea-
sons, radioactive isotopes were
unilsable. Therefore, we de-
cided to make them visible
OFFICIALLY, through fluorescence.
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