656 SESSION VII. DISCUSSION 



denaturation. Clearly, the smaller the protein molecule and the shorter its chain, the 

 greater will be its stability. Such stable proteins are in fact known, for example insulin 

 and ribonuclease. It seems to me that this argues in favour of, rather than against, the 

 hypothesis that life arose at a high temperature, as short protein molecules must, naturally, 

 have come before longer ones. It is therefore quite possible that the modifications suggested 

 by Prof. Pauling consisted simply in lengthening of the shorter proteins as it was no longer 

 useful for them to be short and thermostable. 



My second remark concerns Prof. Calvin's contribution. Some types of coacervate can 

 be studied quantitatively. These are coaccrvates in which the particles are long and straight 

 and are arranged parallel to and equidistant from one another. Such an arrangement was 

 first observed in the tobacco mosaic virus, but it has no connection with life, for Rizzatti 

 has recently shown that very similar coacervates, with the particles parallel to one another, 

 may be obtained with soap solutions. 



A. I. Oparin: Our Symposium is drawing to a close. I cannot speak for the other 

 panicipants in our conference, but it seems to me that this arouses complicated, even 

 mixed feelings in me. Of course we are all a bit tired by the glittering, many-coloured 

 rainbow of the flow of ideas and facts which has passed before us, by the abundance of 

 scientific achievement which we have witnessed. But still, in spite of this, I am sorry that 

 our exchange of opinions is being brought to an end, as I believe that it has been very 

 fruitful for the scientific solution of the problem of the origin of life. I hope that this is 

 only a temporary break and that, in another place and at another time, this exchange of 

 opinions will be renewed. 



As Prof. Pauling rightly pointed out, one great advantage of our gathering is that we 

 have not had to vote and we did not try to convert others to our opinions. Even if we 

 sometimes could not reach an agreement and often differed in our opinions, all these 

 disagreements, and even quarrels, have been useful for the rapid progress of knowledge. 



A difference of opinion cannot be settled by conversations, only by experimental workj 

 it therefore stimulates investigation. I consider that the most important result of the 

 Symposium is that it displayed to each experimental scientist a number of problems, the 

 solution of which requires the work of physicists, astronomers, geologists, chemists and 

 biologists of various specialities. 



Each of them, if only he is seriously interested in the solution of the problem of the 

 origin of life, will find that progress in his field will contribute to the solution of the 

 problem in which we arc all interested. 



Whether this progress is achieved by the syntheses of Miller or by Akabori's theory, 

 by the remarkable investigations of the structure of proteins of Pauling or Bemal or the 

 brilliant studies of nucleic acids and viruses of Chargaff, Fraenkel-Conrat and Schramm 

 or by studying the origin of enzymes or open systems in pre-cellular structures, it will be 

 equally encouraging as it will bring us nearer to a rapid solution of the problem which, 

 as this Symposium has shown, is of great interest to us all. 



Therefore, it seems to me that we should take measures, so that the richness of know- 

 ledge which has been assembled in this room may be made accessible and be available 

 to wide circles of scientists. 



Allow me to express my deep gratitude to all those who have participated in the Sjrm- 

 posium and to wish them a pleasant journey to their own countries and success in their 

 scientific work. 



Furthermore, a number of contriI«^utors have remarked on the desirability of publishing 

 a complete collection of the work of the Symposium, and also of calling, in the future, 

 further international gatherings on the problem of the origin of life, chemical and bio- 

 chemical evolution and related questions. 



Resolutions to this effect, put forward by A. I. Oparin, M. Florkin and M. Calvin, were 

 adopted by the meeting. 



In declaring the Symposium closed, Prof. M. Calvin (U.S.A.) expressed the hope that 

 the exchange of opinions and ideas which had taken place would be embodied in new 

 experiments which, in their turn, would lead to new ideas. In the name of the participants 

 in the Symposium Prof. Calvin expressed his hearty thanks to Acad. A. I. Oparin and the 

 Organizing Committee which had organized the Symposium and made it so interesting 

 and profitable. 



