Title:

Letter from Michael Heidelberger to Salvador E. Luria

Creator:

Heidelberger, Michael

Recipient:

Luria, S. E. (Salvador Edward), 1912-1991

Date:

27 February 1947

Description:

During World War II, a number of biologists and chemists, including Heidelberger, had worked on classified government and military research projects intended to develop vaccines and antidotes against microorganisms and toxins that were potential biological and chemical warfare agents, such as anthrax and, in Heidelberger's case, ricin. In order to develop such vaccines and antidotes, these scientists first had to purify the substances under study, thereby making them more potent. Several of the scientists involved, including Luria and Heidelberger, were troubled by this blurring between offensive and defensive biological and chemical weapons research. After the war, Luria campaigned for a ban on secret research of this kind, and submitted a resolution to this effect to the Society of American Bacteriologists.

Location:

Box: 4. Folder: 1

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Subject:

World War II, Biological Warfare, Politics, and Chemical Warfare

Format:

Text

Extent:

1 pages

Relation:

Letter from Salvador E. Luria to Joshua Lederberg, 1947

Language:

English

Legacy ID:

DHBBMR

NLM ID:

101584940X197

Profiles Collection:

The Michael Heidelberger Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X197

Story Section:

Antigens and Antibodies: Heidelberger and The Rise of Quantitative Immunochemistry, 1928-1954