Bundle of correspondence between Pontecorvo and Miranda Robertson, the Editor of Nature, concerning a comment made at the Friedrich Miecher Institut Symposium on Biology by Charles Weissman about "splicing"

• Reference:GB 248 UGC 198/3/2/43
• Dates of Creation:Jun 1980-Jul 1980
• Physical Description:
  5 letters, 1 extract (7 pages)

• Scope and Content

  Conference was held in Basle on 20-21 March 1980 and was reviewed by Robertson in Nature Vol 285, (5 Jun 1980). Copy of this is included. Weissman stated that "in 1970 no one would have dreamed that eukaryotic gnenes were split". This amused Pontecorvo as he had predicted "splicing" in 1958 and he believed this comment was proof of molecular biologists' "ignorance of classical genetics".

  He wrote to Robertson to explain this and to send some proof of his ideas from 1958. She then asked him to write a semi-historical piece for Nature describing the research that led to his "prediction as early as 1958".