Abstract
AN article entitled "An Experimental Study of the Problem of Mitogenetic Radiation", which forms Bulletin No. 100 of the National Research Council, Washington, D.C., will be welcomed by many who have waited for an authoritative statement on the reality or otherwise of this type of radiation. The authors, Alexander Hollaender and Walter D. Claus, have spent two years in order to prove or to disprove the existence of the so-called mitogenetic rays. These rays have been defined as radiation comprised between the wave-lengths 1900 A. and 2500 A., having an intensity of 10-1000 quanta/cm.2/sec., the claim being made that they are emitted by biological substances in certain stages of development. It is difficult to see how the authors could have gone further than they have in their efforts to prove or disprove the existence of these rays. Every precaution in the avoidance of errors and a wide range of material and methods of detection have been employed. In spite of this, all the attempts have yielded negative results. Neither biological nor physical detectors gave any indication that a measurable ultra-violet radiation is given out by typical 'mitogenetic senders'. It is a sobering reflection that no fewer than six hundred papers have been published on this subject.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mitogenetic Rays?. Nature 140, 1007–1008 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/1401007c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1401007c0