January 8, 1968

Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr.

Chairman, Special Committee on Aging

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Williams:

I am pleased to learn that your Senate Special Committee on Aging is conducting a study of research needs in fields related to aging.

I give below my answers to the questions in your letter of 27 November.

1. My special area of research, which is the structure of molecules, molecular biology, and molecular medicine, is, I believe, closely related to possible underlying sources of aging. I have for many years worked on the general problem of the structure of the proteins, including collogen. I am sure that changes in protein structure are involved in the process of aging. Moreover, for a number of years I have worked in the general field of the molecular basis of disease, and during the past twelve years on the molecular basis of mental disease. In the course of this work I have developed some ideas about the optimal molecular structure of the human body, in particular about the optimal concentrations of substances normally present in the human body and requited for life. My work so far along these lines has been directed towards schizophrenia and other mental diseases, but is clearly pertinent also to senescence.

2. At the present time I do not have research facilities and financial resources to permit me to carry out very extensive studies. My appointment in the University of California, San Diego, is for the year 1967-1968, and I do not know what I shall be doing after 30 June 1968. I am interested in continuing my researches on the molecular basis of disease, presumably in southern California.

3. My former collaborator Dr. Arthur Cherkin, who is a staff member in Veterans Hospital, Sepulveda, California, is, I believe, particularly qualified to carry on research on aging. I was involved in obtaining the appointment for him in Sepulveda, when I left the California Institute of Technology, and It is my understanding that he is now carrying on research on aging, but probably with restricted support.

4. I do not believe that the present level of research support on the fundamental mechanisms of senescence is adequate. The amount of suffering caused by senescence, as Indicated, for example, by the number of hospital beds occupied by persons suffering from senescence (including hospital beds in mental institutions), is very great, and the possibilities of decreasing this suffering through research on senescence are in my opinion large enough to justify the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars per year, in addition to the expenditures now being made. The progress in molecular biology and medicine during recent years has been tremendous. Many fundamental discoveries have been made that suggest promising programs of developmental research. In addition, more money should be provided to support work in basic science, especially in the fields of molecular structure and molecular biology, because there Is an excellent chance that additional very important discoveries can be made.

5. I have not been In the University of California, San Diego, long enough to be able to make a significant statement about your question of the potential role of training and research centers on aging in this Institution.

6. I have many ideas about research on the biological bases of the problem of aging. I have discussed some of them with Dr. Joe Meyer, when he was Chief of Research in Basic Sciences, Veterans Administration. I cannot present an adequate discussion of these ideas in this letter, because it would then be too long.

Sincerely,

Linus Pauling

LP:jj