Thomas F. Anderson (1911-1991) was a biophysicist and electron microscopist whose research included Raman spectroscopy; the physiology of yeast; the biological effects of radiation; the biological applications of electron microscopy; and the genetics of bacteria, bacterial viruses, and bacteriophage. He was a Professor of Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania and a Senior Member of the Institute for Cancer Research in Fox Chase.

This collection contains some letters, but mostly there are copies of manuscripts by Kaufmann and others, concerning genetics in medical schools, and chromosone changes produced by drugs.

The maize geneticist Barbara McClintock (1902-1992) is credited with the discovery of "jumping genes," that is chromosomal "crossing over" and translocation. She received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983. The collection is organized into six series: I. Correspondence, 1931-1991; II. Subject files, 1938-1989; III. Works by McClintock, 1944-1989; IV. Works by others, 1927-1991; V. Research notes, notebooks, and card files, 1930s-1990s ; VI. Photographs, 1928-1991.

This miscellaneous collection relates to numerous topics in genetics: cattle breeding (especially the American Jersey Cattle Club), longevity, radiation, International Congress of Genetics (the 10th, 11th, and 13th), Gregor Mendel, aid for refugee scientists, and the records of the Genetics Society of America (1947-1974). The photographs series accession # 1968 433pr, was added to the finding aid in 2016.

Working on bacterial viruses in 1945, Seymour S. Cohen offered the first systematic exploration of the biochemistry of virus-infected cells and of how viruses multiply. His subsequent research included delineating the phenomenon of thymineless death, developing derivatives of ara-A compound, working on RNA synthesis, studying the effects of polyamines on metabolic systems, and studying plant viruses (including viral cations). Much of his research has contributed to the chemical treatment of cancer and viral infections.

A biochemist at Columbia University, Erwin Chargaff discovered the base-pairing regularities or "complementarity relationships" of nucleic acids that provided one of the key steps in developing a structural model for DNA. During his long career, Chargaff is credited with conclusively falsifying the tetranucleotide hypothesis; demonstrating the existence of a large number of DNA species; and creating the first descriptions of hypochromicity, hyperchromicity, and the denaturation of a DNA. In addition, Chargaff conducted important research on blood coagulation, lipids and lipoproteins, the metabolism of amino acids and inositol, and the biosynthesis of phosphotransferases. He retired to emeritus status in 1974 and remained active in research almost to the time of his death in June 2002. The Chargaff Papers are organized into ten series: I. Correspondence, 1931-1992; Ia. Correspondence, 1949-2002; IIa. Grants, 1930-1982; IIb. Subject Files, 1940-1984; IIc. Subject Files, 1946-2002; III. Works by Chargaff, 1929-1989; IIIa. Works by Chargaff, 1923-2002; IIIb. Reprints, 1977-1999; IV. Works by Others, 1936-1985; IVa. Works by Others, 1976-2002; V. Research Notes and Notebooks, 1929-1951 ; VI. Photographs, 1935-1977; VIa. Photographs, 1928-2002; VII. Audiovisual Materials; VIII. Awards and Certificates, 1958-2001; IX. Lecture Notes, 1942-1985; X. Personal Papers, [1880]-1985.

The collection includes three accessions: (1) a portion of Lewontin's correspondence files (mainly A-L) and copies of papers acquired in 1979; (2) a 2003 accession with files on various subjects and correspondence with about 30 colleagues, and (3) a substantial 2018 accession of about 60 linear feet that includes correspondence, manuscripts, and subject files. The topics discussed in the letters are numerous, including much on contemporary scientific controversies such as race, Darwin, evolution, intelligence, and biological determinism.

A bacteriologist from MIT, Salvador E. Luria's work with Max Delbruck on bacteriophage demonstrated that bacterial resistance to certain phages arose through genetic mutations. His later work showed that phages also mutate genetically. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1969 with Max Delbruck and Alfred D. Hershey. The collection is organized into seven series: I. Correspondence, 1938-1992 ; IIa. Subject Files, 1938-1990 ; IIb. Personal Material. 1923-1991 ; III. Works by Luria, 1938-1987 ; IV. Works by Others, 1944-1990 ; V. Research Notes and Notebooks, 1941-1979 ; VI. Course Material, 1931-1991 ; VII. Photographs and Negatives, 1957-1982. Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title and then chronological within each folder.

The geneticist Milislav Demerec emigrated from Yugloslavia in 1919, spending nearly his entire career in the Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Working initially on the genetics of maize and later on Drosophila virilis, his research interests included radiation and chemical mutagenesis, and during the Second World War, penicillin and the genetics of antibiotic resistance. Demerec served as head of the laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor from 1941 until 1960. The Demerec collection contains the extant professional papers of Milislav Demerec, dating primarily from the time of his arrival at Cold Spring Harbor until his retirement. In addition to his correspondence with colleagues, the collection includes interesting material on the administration of Cold Spring Harbor laboratory during the 1940s and 1950s, data and research notes, material relating to professional organizations (e.g. Genetics Society of America, American Society of Naturalists), a lengthy series of lectures given by Demerec, and a large number of photographs pertaining to Demerec's research, but also to his colleagues and Cold Spring Harbor itself. There is also a Register of visitors to the laboratory (1927-1945) and a Milislav Demerec reprint list.

Between 1968 and 1978, the historian of science Horace Freeland Judson conducted extensive oral history interviews with biochemists and molecular biologists relating to the development of their field. The correspondence, transcripts of interviews, and taped interviews that comprise the Judson collection formed the research material used by Judson in his book, The Eighth Day of Creation (New York, 1979). Permission to quote must be obtained from Dr. Judson and access to some files is restricted.

Ernst Wolfgang Caspari was an important contributor to behavior and developmental genetics, working primarily on the mealmoth Ephestia. Trained in Alfred Kuhn's laboratory at the University of Göttingen (1933-1935), Caspari was forced from his position by the Nazis in 1933, escaping to the United States five years later. As a professor of biology at Lafayette College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Rochester, Caspari continued his research on Ephestia, mouse genetics, and behavior genetics until his retirement in 1975. The Caspari Papers includes correspondence, papers, grant reports, and lectures relating to Caspari's genetic research dating primarily from the period after his departure from Germany. In addition to substantial material on behavior genetics and human evolution, the collection includes correspondence relating to Caspari's editorial work for Advances in Genetics, and his involvement with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Fifth Banff Conference on Theoretical Psychology, Genetics Society of America, International Conference on the Unity of Science, Social Science Research Council, Committee on Genetics and Behavior, and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Sewall Wright ranks among the most influential figures in the field of population genetics during the 20th century, and made important contributions to biostatistics, biometrics, and evolutionary theory. These papers contain much of Wright's professional correspondence, scattered research notes, and drafts of a small number of papers.

The Papers of Curt Stern include extensive correspondence, lectures (1920s-1970s, 1.5 boxes), autobiographical material, articles, zoological course notes, photographs, etc. Stern's various areas of scientific interest are documented in the collection: the chromosome theory of heredity, role of gene mutation and chromosome rearrangements in evolution, action and interaction of genes during individual development, and particularly his contribution to the development of human genetics as a discipline (centered on his popular and influential book, Principles of Human Genetics, 1949, 1960, 1973). Both his career in Germany and the United States is documented in his correspondence. After studying with T. H. Morgan at Columbia University on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1924-1926), Stern returned to Richard Goldschmidt's lab at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute (1926-1932). There is material of note in the collection concerning this period when Stern helped to establish the cytological basis of crossing over. After a short stay at the California Institute of Technology in 1932, Stern's temporary residence in the U. S. became permanent, and his later career at the University of Rochester, 1933-1947 (Chairman, Department of Zoology) and at the University of California, Berkeley, 1947-1970 (there is abundant material on the Department of Zoology) is covered in the collection. There is other material on: American Association for the Advancement of Science Inter-Society Committee on Science Foundation Legislation, 1946-1947; American Society of Human Genetics (Pres., 1957); Atomic Energy Commission (Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine, 1950-1955); Genetics (journal); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Advisory Committee for Biology, 1955-1968); and the Rockefeller Foundation. Stern's correspondence with friends and colleagues in Germany, England, and the U. S., during the 1920s-1930s, is of particular note as it documents not only the developments in genetics and the institutional and administrative networks supporting research, but it also offers general comments and observations on science, Germany, and politics. The photographs (2 boxes) include pictures of many prominent geneticists and scientists.