238 REFERENCES 



five years ago, and there has been other discussion. The fact remains 

 that, without generating a minimum of public excitement or at least 

 excitement among the scientific community, nothing is going to be done 

 about it. It is too easy to think that the results we get in the laboratory 

 concerning mutagenesis in bacteria (33) are merely scientific curiosi- 

 ties and that they can be excluded from the realm of human affairs. 

 This is too convenient. 



REFERENCES 



1. ANDREW, L. E. The mutagenic activity of caffeine in 

 Drosophila. Am. Nat. 93, 135-38 (1959). 



2. AUERBACH, C, and J. M. ROBSON. Production of mu- 

 tations by allyl isothiocyanate. Nature 154, 81 (1944). 



3. AXELROD, J., and J. REICHENTHAL. The fate of caf- 

 feine in man and a method for its estimation in biological 

 material. Jour. Pharmacol. Exper. Thcrap. 107, 519-23 (1953). 



4. BARRATT, R. W., and E. L. TATUM. Carcinogenic mu- 

 tagens. A^in. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 71, 1072-84 (1958). 



5. BARTHELMESS, A. Mutagene Arzneimittel. Arzneimit- 

 telforschung 6, 157-68 (1956). 



6. BARTHELMESS, A., and J. EINLECHNER. Chemisch 

 induzierte multipolare Mitosen, II. Protoplasma 51, 325-37 

 (1959). 



logically insulated against such chemical insults from the environment. On the 

 other hand, it may be possible to ameliorate the intracellular biochemical acci- 

 dents that can now plausibly be considered as one source of "spontaneous" muta- 

 tions. ' 

 From this perspective, the genetic hazards of atomic energy are but one facet 

 of a much broader and correspondingly more urgent problem of chronic toxicity 

 and the health of the public (and its future generations). 



Joshua Lederberg 

 October 12, 1955 



P. S. In the above discussion, survival is "postulated." This is, of course, far 

 too passive a response to such an urgent threat. The postulation is intended not 

 to encourage passivity, but to focus on the immediate issue. It should also be 

 clearly understood that the broadening of the basis of genetic hazards does not 

 in any way mitigate specific dangers from atomic energy. The role of radiations, 

 and public response to it, may perhaps be compared to the role of poliomyelitis 

 as one of many contagious diseases that are important in public health. 



