254 



National Resources Planning Board 



As the individual who is to develop and guide indus- 

 trial applications of this stupendous body of knowl- 

 edge, the modern biologist can no longer afford merely 

 to chase butterflies or dig for worms. The heretofore 

 mysterious and occult life processes are now shown to 

 abide by the fundamental laws of physics and chem- 

 istry. But the arrangement and interaction of com- 

 ponents within the cell, of cells within the organism, of 

 individuals within a society superimposes upon physical 

 and chemical phenomena a new and profoundly effective 

 factor; that which we call organization. Not only 

 must the modern biologist, whom for our purposes we 

 might call a "biological engineer," be thoroughly fa- 

 miliar with physics and chemistry and their language, 

 mathematics, but he must also have some comprehen- 

 sion of the possibilities inherent in organization. 

 Biologists find it difficult to qualify in all these respects, 

 consequently modern industrial biological laboratories 

 usually represent several classes of training — chemists, 

 physicists, bacteriologists, endocrinologists, etc., co- 

 operating as best they may in the work of the industry. 



The revolutionary ideas arising from Wohler's syn- 

 thesis of urea released a flood of biological investigations. 

 The controversy between Liebig and Pasteur, the syn- 

 theses accomplished by Emil Fischer, the contributions 

 made by Lamarck, Darwin, and Mendel, and the recent 

 spectacular researches of Warburg and other contem- 

 poraries on the structure and function of the enzymes 

 comprise a background representing the modern biolo- 

 gist's point of view. Without this background the 

 biologist would be hampered severely in his work. 



The biologist never has a simple system, since his 

 most important object of study, the living form, is most 

 complex. At first thought, it might be said that the 

 single-celled organism, e. g., a yeast cell, is a simple 

 structure. Quite the opposite is true; it must possess 

 within one cell all the potentialities of a complete organ- 

 ism; and hence is more complex functionally, and often 

 structurally, than any individual cell of a "higher" 

 (i. e., more complex) plant or animal Living matter 

 carmot be perfectly controlled; hence the perfect ex- 

 periment is impossible in biology. Many trials must 

 be made, and often statistics must be invoked to aid 

 in the interpretation of results. The chemist and 

 physicist find it hard to appreciate the difficulties of 

 biological research. The engineer may design a plant 

 perfect in construction which fails in operation because 

 he faded to consider, or science did not have available, 

 the precise laiowledge necessary to control production. 



This report has been prepared from the information 

 supplied by research directors of a number of industrial 

 laboratories and university men interested in biology. 

 It is hoped that it will point out some of the things that 

 biologists can do for industry. If it appears that the 

 biological investigations lag behind those in other 



divisions of the natural sciences, it is because biology 

 deals with phenomena which are complicated, variable, 

 and not easily susceptible of experimental manipulation. 

 The investigator must be familiar with the biological 

 system which he is attempting to study — the condition 

 of the living thing. It is clear that certam biological 

 experiments require not only knowledge of physics and 

 chemistry but also a knowledge of the normal living 

 organism, the "biological system." If there is a imique 

 biological viewpoint it is associated with an under- 

 standing of this relationship and the possibilities in- 

 herent m organization. 



Industrial Applications 



Industries vary greatly in the extent to which they 

 utilize biological research. The manufacture of vac- 

 cines, antitoxins, and many pharmaceuticals involves 

 the most meticulous biological control. At the other 

 extreme we have the metallurgical industries where the 

 biologist is concerned only with employee welfare or 

 waste disposal. In any event we may define the in- 

 dustrial biologist from the standpoint of this report as 

 one engaged in research on biological material regardless 

 of his previous training. According to the figures 

 obtained by questionnaires, there are about 1,000 

 biologists engaged in industrial research in the United 

 States, but under the above classification a much larger 

 number would be included. 



It usually requires the cooperation of many scien- 

 tifically framed investigators to place a product on the 

 market. The sources of raw materials must be care- 

 fully investigated. Their cost and imiformity and the 

 economics of bringhig them to the factory door are 

 matters of prime importance. Once the laboratory has 

 developed a product and controls satisfactorily its mii- 

 formity, flavor, color, consistency, therapeutic or nutri- 

 tive value, and other properties, the cost of elaboration, 

 methods of packaging, distribution, keeping quality, 

 and superiority over competitive products must be 

 considered as important factors. When the product is 

 ready for market a consumer preference test is neces- 

 sary. Ways of utilizing waste products must be de- 

 veloped as these may become important sources of 

 revenue in reducing the over-all processing cost. The 

 knowledge of the "biological engineer" is of great value 

 in the consideration of these problems. The biologist 

 wdl also be consulted in the labeling and advertising 

 of all foods and drugs in accordance with the regula- 

 tions of the Food and Drug Administration (Federal 

 Security Agency) and of the Federal Trade Commission. 

 Modern advertising and labeling of such products must 

 also be coordinated with the Federal and State regu- 

 latory laws. This immense task requires training and 

 experience in legal as well as scientific fields. 



We shall pass over with brief mention those industries 



