Mice

Date: circa 1962
Cfa collection: John Nash Ott Collection
Notes: In the early 1960s, John Nash Ott partnered in medical research with Dr. Samuel L. Gabby of Sherman Hospital in Elgin and Dr. Edward F. Scanlon, head of the Tumor Committee at Evanston Hospital. They conducted experiments on laboratory mice to determine the effect of exposure to various wavelengths of light on physical reactions in the animals' bodies. Ott theorized that healthy pituitary gland hormone production was directly dependent upon the eye receiving the full spectrum of light rays, and if certain wavelengths were blocked from reaching the eye, the body's overall health would suffer. The experiments used mice that were specially bred to be prone to develop malignant tumors. Through independent experiments, Ott Gabby and Scanlon observed that mice exposed to light filtered by ordinary window glass, quartz glass or plastic all developed tumors at varying stages, while mice that were exposed to full spectrum light rays resisted tumor growth.
Subjects: Biology; Laboratories; Animal behavior; Diseases; Science
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Winnetka
Cfa elements: Reversal Positive Print, 36 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/36002