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The purpose of this expedition was to make use of the laborato^i « and 
support facilities of the R/V Alpha Helix for a thorough medical, po 5 
genetics and human biology survey of very remote islands, difficult ^fcess 
because of their total lack of harbors and anchorage. These islands ~ all of 
particular interest to medicine, anthropology, and human biology bee of 
their genetic and epidemiologic isolation, their limited ecology, ai. fact 
that they are an area of high inbreeding and of overlap of Melanesia.. 
Polynesian peoples. Almost all of them present difficulties iser a;:kation 
and embarkation; at very few of them was it possible to an. ..o l > i::r . i.^'h of 
the year, including most of the period of this expedition, the seas a :e ough, 
often making landing impossible. These facts, and the remoteness of these 
islands, have made medical surveys and laboratory studies of these pop lations 
impossible in the past. 
The difficulties in bringing people to and from the ship severely limited 
the possibility of shipboard laboratory studies of patients. Thorough medical, 
including neurological, examinations, x-ray studies, and other laboratory 
studies were often difficult or impossible on board ship because of the rough 
seas, without anchorage. Thus, such use of the ship’s facilities had to be 
devised as would best serve the unique requirements for medical work on these 
small volcanic islands. Without the Alpha Helix 's power supply, refrigerators, 
microscopes, centrifuges, incubators and liquid nitrogen, the expedition would 
have been impossible. 
However, the purpose of the expedition was medicine and human biology, 
which demanded shore-based, not ship-based, research, and the uses to which the 
ship's laboratories were put was largely that of the complex processing of 
biological specimens for their continued study over a period of years in the 
collaborating laboratories of Europe, Australia, and America. Unlike many 
previous Alpha Helix expeditions, the major laboratory data from these studies 
will be accumulated for over a decade, and the definitive publications are not 
envisaged before several years of laboratory studies have been completed. 
In June 1972 the Chief Scientist visited both the New Hebrides and the 
Solomon Islands to discuss the problems and purposes of the expedition with both 
administrators and medical services on the islands. He encountered enthusiasm 
for the expedition and received extensive hospitality; he was permitted access 
to census and demographic data, maps and medical reports which were essential to 
the work on the islands. Most important, the medical services and 
administrations informed the islanders of the arrival of the expedition and the 
medical team was met with enthusiasm on every island. On all islands, the 
Chiefs and the people cooperated, with patients anticipating our arrival; the 
interest in the extensive medical examinations was high, and no resistance was 
encountered to such examinations or to the collection of blood, urine, feces, 
saliva and other specimens, or to the skin testing and other diagnostic 
procedures. The people welcomed this opportunity to present their many medical 
complaints to the assembled medical specialists and were enthusiastic and 
careful in providing the necessary anamnestic and general background 
information. They showed great hospitality to the visiting scientists and were 
disappointed that the high seas and difficult landings made it impossible for 
Captain and crew to come ashore with the scientific team. 
The nature and purpose of the studies were explained to the people on the 
