ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 13 



The eggs and embryos of marine invertebrates also con- 

 tribute to this field. Their study is even more important in 

 learning about the factors that stimulate cell division and 

 control its rate — information that is basic in unravelling some 

 of the perplexities surrounding the growth of cancer and 

 neoplasms. 



Dr. Ray stated further that while cancer afflicts manj- species of 

 vertebrates, not a single case has ever been discovered in any marine 

 invertebrate. If scientists can discover why the invertebrates are 

 immune it may suggest methods of combating cancers that afflict 

 mankind. 



Dr. Harry Sobotka, director of the Department of Chemistr}', Mt. 

 Sinai Hospital, New York City, also touched on cancer. 



In a letter to the committee he stated : 



The study of the chemistr}^ of marine life will contribute 

 to the ph^'sician's arsenal in the fight against cancer and 

 other disease. 



Dr. Carl H. Oppenheimer, marine microbiologist with the Institute 

 of Marine Sciences, in a letter to the committee commending it for 

 including in S. 901 a broad research program into medical implications 

 of oceanography, stated in part: 



The rather few scientists in our field cannot begin to cope 

 with the important aspects of our field which need immediate 

 attention. 



Our expanding population daih^ introduces new aspects of 

 marine inicrobiology which cry for understanding and pos- 

 sible control. 



Deep sea inicrobiology is almost nonexistent in the United 

 States, and the only major efl^ort in this field is being made by 

 Kussia. 



Dr. Ross F. NigreUi, director of the Laboratory of Marine Bio- 

 chemistry and Ecology, Brooklyn, NY., in a letter to the committee 

 listed seven important biochemicals that have been isolated from the 

 tissues and body fluids of fi.sh and marine ivertebrates. 



Attention also was called to an important compound found in in- 

 vertebrates which other scientists have stated "may well become a 

 capital clue to the biochemistry of sanity and insanity." 



Finally [Dr. Nigrelli concluded] I would like to point out 

 one area in which a pharmaceutical product derived from a 

 fish is playing a well-established role in national defense. 



Studies of the physiology of the electric eel, first initiated 

 in the laboratory of the New York Aquarium, led to the dis- 

 covery tliat this fish contains large amounts of cholinesterase 

 (or acetyicholinesterase), which is an enzpne vital to the 

 transmission of nerve impulses. 



This enz3nne is now being extracted and purified in quan- 

 tity. With this and tlie electric eel as an experimental ani- 

 mal, it was possible for Dr. I. B. Wilson to s^Tithesize an 

 antidote for nerve gasses called PAM. Although the electric 

 eel is at present the prinuiry and most available source of the 

 enzyme, there are several marine fishes that could be also 

 used as a source. 



