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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
Nurseries and well-kept farms are on both sides of the road. From a
low-lying ridge at 54.3 miles is a view (R) of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (see
PRINCETON) across the meadowland of an intervening valley. The university buildings, largely hidden by oaks and elms, are dwarfed by the
massive Grover Cleveland tower of the graduate school. In the foreground
is the bulk of Palmer Stadium; through the trees is an occasional glimpse
of Carnegie Lake.
At 54.7 Miles is (L) the plant and animal pathology division of the
ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH (not open to public).
Founded in 1901, the organization has conducted investigations and instituted health reforms throughout the world. Of major significance has
been the work of Dr. Wendell M. Stanley, who won the American Association for the Advancement of Science prize for his study of disease-producing viruses. Dr. Stanley announced in 1935 the isolation of the
virus of a tobacco plant disease and the discovery that this virus was not a
living animal organism (bacterium) but rather a gigantic protein molecule. In addition to its great size, this molecule differed from other protein
molecules in a very important respect: it could reproduce itself. For years
scientists had been looking for this missing link in evolutionary development &150; the bridge between the animate and the inanimate &150; a nonliving
substance with the property of reproduction. Inanimate substances, such as
proteins, were never before known to possess this property. Since the original discovery, other protein virus molecules, each different and each responsible for a specific virus disease in plants and animals, have been
isolated. Dr. Stanley's work leads the way for the development of new
methods in the prevention and treatment of human disease. It is possible
that giant protein molecules, existing within the body in a harmless form,
may change into a disease-producing virus, of the type that causes such
diseases as infantile paralysis and the common cold. Further, discovery of
the ability of some molecules to change may provide a key to the evolutionary process that has enabled Nature to create a multitude of different
living species.
At 55.6 miles is the junction with a dirt road, marked by a gatehouse.
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