May 24, 1943.
Dear Dr. Pauling:
This will acknowledge your letters of May 17, regarding the status of the immune-chemical
project. The officers will be happy recommend the sum of $8,000 of new funds for
continuing the work on the production of artificial antibodies during the year beginning
July 1, 1943.
I am sorry if any misunderstanding has arisen regarding the importance you attach
to the various parts of your program. None of us in this office can claim any competence
in the field of immunology, but the fact remains that the best advice we can get from
a number of leading workers in this field focused primary attention upon the importance
of determining as clearly as possible and as quickly as possible whether artificial
antibodies can be produced in the laboratory. If this can be done unequivocally, our
advisers foresee advances in infectious disease therapy of the greatest importance.
From your letter of March 25, 1942, requesting an additional grant of $20,000 for
the present year, we gained the impression that you also were of the opinion that
the most interesting results you had obtained were those dealing with the manufacture
of antibodies in vitro, and that it was of great moment that this line of investigation
be pushed rapidly. Since the impression we gained from your letter of a year ago coincided
exactly with that of our advisers, we recommended, the $20,000 with very considerable
enthusiasm. In view of this bit of back-ground, you can understand our somewhat mild,
surprise to learn, from, your most recent letter, that you have thought, and now think,
that the work on artificial antibodies represents only a minor part of your program.
The misunderstanding on our part may be further explained by the fact that we were
requested to furnish $20,000 for the work on antibodies in vitro and only $11,000
a year for the broader aspects of the program. This seemed to make the artificial
antibody work your major interest and the other aspects of the project your minor
interest.
The fourth paragraph of my letter, upon which you comment, was undoubtedly poorly
phrased and undoubtedly misleading. It was farthest from my intention to recommend
that you consider the possibility of commer-cial support for your work. I merely meant
to point out that in the opinion of our advisers, once the fact that antibodies could
be made in a test-tube had been established, there would be, as in the case of all
major advances in science, a very considerable number of persons who would at once
take up the new technique and carry on research along this line also, and that for
these several centers there would be many different sources of support.
Your statement regarding Dr. Dan H. Campbell and the responsibility of the California
Institute of Technology for his future is entirely satisfactory to the Foundation,
and I see no reason why you should not continue his salary from Foundation funds until
the expiration of the present grants, at which time, of course, we shall be happy
to consider with you the future of your most interesting work in immune-chemistry.
I wrote to Dr. Sturtevant about his part of the request at the same time I wrote to
you. I have not heard from him, and since all material must be in our hands by June
1st, at the latest, I wonder if it would be asking too much of you to check up with
Dr. Sturtevant to see if he is working on the matter and if I may hear from him in
the near future?
Sincerely yours,
Frank Blair Hanson.
