Telephone: Camsripcs 58234/5

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN ECOLOGY

       

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Temporary Address:
THE NAVAL HUT
DOWNING COLLEGE
CAMBRIDGE

     

  
       

16th October, 1950.

Dear Lederberg,

I am greatly interested in the statistical treatment of data on
bacterial recombination, though experimental data is rather hard to come
by. I am of course in close touch with Dr. L. L. Cavalli who works in
the Cambridge University Department of Genetics.

Could you answer a query in connection with your paper in Genetic$,
1947, on "Gene recombination etc."? The figures given in Table 5 are of
special interest. Presumably the second number in the first line should
read 303 and not 203, otherwise the percentages quoted do not fite One
other particularly anemalous result is the excessive number of triptés
(5.1%) for the BY group of the third type of cross. Could you tell m
whether there is any possibility of a printer's error here, or whether it is
really the quantity observed? Actually all the proportions in this line,
except the first look a little unusual.

I should also like to enquire whether you have collected further data
off this kind of bacterial recombination, as I am particularly anxious to
make an investigation into possible disturbances due to differential
viability, partial manifestation, interference etc.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

Yours sincerely,

Statistician to the Department of Medicine.
University of Cambridge.

Professor J. Lederberg.
University of Wisconsin.
Madison. Wise

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