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Page 4, February 1981 Dr. Hoffman analyzes various characteristics of cells in his studies. RJR sponsors research on cell structure Each week 1,800 chicken eggs are delivered to Dr. Stanley Hoffman's laboratory at The Rocke- feller University in New York. No, Dr. Hoffman is not a big eater. He uses the eggs, which have been fertilized, in his effort to learn more about why cells sometimes develop abnormally and lead to diseases such as birth defects, cancer, and other life-threatening disorders. Dr. Hoffman, the current R.J. Reynolds Fellow in the Biomedical Sciences at Rockefeller, and his col- leagues remove embryonic chick retinas from the eggs and separate the cells by a chemical process so they can analyze individual cells. treatment of cancer victims. Dr. Hoffman said his research is not aimed at any one disease, but is geared to understanding the normal working of the body. "We can't predict what disease our research may help with," he said. "The fallout from what we are doing could be use- ful in a variety of diseases." Dr. Hoffman's research is among several projects at The Rockefeller University that R.J. Reynolds' grants help finance. Other research includes clinical research conducted on diabetes and obesity, and basic biomedical research relating to leukemia, atherosclerosis and carcinogenesis. Dr. Hoffman says he hopes to learn how cells "rec- ognize" each other and stay where they belong in the body as well as how and why the cells of one tissue become different from those of another tissue during their development. Toward this purpose, he and his colleagues have identified a substance on cell surfaces which might account for the ability of cells to adhere to one another, and are working to confirm their findings. Information about why cells become different could help explain what happens when normal cells become cancerous, Dr. Hoffman said. Since cancer cells also have reduced ability to adhere to one another, Dr. Hoffman's research may help explain the reason for the spread of cancer. That discovery could be significant in the search for effective Dr. Joshua Lederberg, president of The Rockefeller University, said RJR sponsorship "has been most helpful in combining assured support for the high- est priority components of university-wide pro- grams with discretionary funding to let us quickly seize selected new research opportunities." In addition to The Rockefeller University, RJR makes grants for biomedical research to Harvard University Medical School, University of California at San Diego, University of Colorado Medical School, University of Pennsylvania, Eleanor Roosevelt Institute of Cancer Research, University of Washington at Seattle Medical School, Univer- sity of California at San Francisco, Medical Col- lege of Pennsylvania, New York University and Bowman Gray Medical School of Wake Forest University.