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Interview with Herschel K. Mitchell

Mitchell, Herschel (2000) Interview with Herschel K. Mitchell. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H

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Abstract

Interview in 1997 with Herschel K. Mitchell, professor of biology, emeritus. George W. Beadle brought Mitchell to Caltech with him in 1946 from Stanford as a senior research fellow, along with Norman Horowitz, Mary Houlahan, Adrian Srb, and August Doermann. The group worked on Neurospora. Mitchell recalls teaching the biochemistry course with Henry Borsook; recalls Beadle's style as chairman of the Division of Biology. Recalls his earlier work on pantothenic acid and folic acid as a graduate student with Roger Williams. Comments extensively (in mid-interview and again toward the end) on the dubious work done by Lawrence Burton and Frank Friedman as research fellows in the mid-1950s, their consequent dismissal from Caltech, and their later careers in highly controversial immuno-augmentative cancer therapy. Recalls instituting athletic activities at Caltech for graduate students and refers to many of his successful PhD students--among them Bruce Ames, who invented the Ames test for detecting mutagens and potential carcinogens; Mogens Westergaard, with whom he devised a medium favoring sexual reproduction in Neurospora; and Ernst Hadorn, with whom he worked on Drosophila mutants.


Item Type:Oral History
Keywords:Biology, biochemistry
Record Number:CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
Subjects:Subjects > Biology
Subjects > Chemistry
All Records
ID Code:25
Collection:CaltechOralHistories
Deposited By: Oral Histories Administrator
Deposited On:18 Nov 2002
Last Modified:04 Oct 2019 15:23

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