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    "localId": "486498019",
    "label": "Report, OSI - 1/49, Central Intelligence Agency, An Estimate of Swedish Capabilities in Science",
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    "title": "Report, OSI - 1/49, Central Intelligence Agency, An Estimate of Swedish Capabilities in Science",
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        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 9,
            "logicalDate": "1949-08-09",
            "month": 8,
            "year": 1949
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{
    "seq": 13,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\nAs an abundant raw material, wood has been the subject of considerable\nresearch. Resins and intermediates from retene may be expected to appear on the\nindustrial scene within five years. Considerable attention is also being given to\nlignin, lignanes, and the humic acids as raw materials for resins and intermediates.\nResearch is being carried out on the utilization of sizable quantities of alcohols, fusel\noils, turpentine, and tall oil (which result from wood processing). Similarly new\nmethods of pulping and processing cellulose are being exploited. Because of the\nscarcity of trained personnel, progress in all these projects will be slow.\nPromising research on the organic compounds of sulfur, large amounts\nof which can be produced from the processing of shale oil, is being pursued at three\nuniversities in Sweden. New plasticizers and elastomers seem to be the objective. In\nother branches of plastics research considerable activity is taking place but the products\nappear to be of a conventional nature.\nResearch on the sulfa drugs is fairly extensive but a surprisingly small\namount of publishable research emanates from the industrial laboratories. This is a\ndirect result of the scarcity of research personnel whom industry cannot as yet attract\naway from the universities.\nConsiderable effort is being made to establish adequate facilities for the\nmanufacture of organic solvents and plasticizers based on sulphite alcohol and elec-\ntrolytic chlorine. With the recent completion of new research facilities by several of\nthe leading chemical companies and the hoped-for increase in technical personnel, the\nrate of progress should be accelerated and the major portion of the required plant\nshould be at least in the planning stage within five years.\nSwedish efforts in chemical warfare are limited and are confined to the\ndefensive aspects. A small potential however does exist, as indicated by the recent\ndevelopment of a successful antimustard gas agent known as \"pentamin\" and a winter\nwarfare antigas liquid. Research on a small scale may be expected on the defense\nagainst the nerve gases but few tangible results are expected in five years or less.\n(3) Biochemistry\nResearch of high caliber in biochemistry is being conducted along three\ngeneral lines. The first is the determination, with considerable success, of the protein\ncomponents of body fluids and cell nuclei, followed by the elucidation of their internal\nstructures using ultraviolet absorption, and chromatographic and electrophoretic\nanalysis. The second is the characterization of virus proteins which has received much\nattention with no outstanding success as yet. The third has been a study on the\neffect of various chemical agents and radiation on body fluids and cell nuclei, partic-\nularly on nucleic acid and the nucleoproteins in cancer research. A growing employ-\nment of tracer elements is noticeable and should increase as the atomic-energy pro-\ngram progresses and the Svedberg cyclotron comes into operation in late 1949.\nAntibiotic research has not been outstanding in Sweden but the recent\nestablishment of a plant for the production of penicillin will probably provide a stim-\nulus. Lactaroviolin, a promising antibiotic against tubercle bacilli, has been an-\nnounced and should soon be evaluated. An attempt to isolate antibiotic substances\nfrom fungi and microorganisms which attack wood is in its incipient stages. A\nsulfuric acid ester of dextran, prepared synthetically, has recently been shown to have\na coagulation-inhibiting effect on blood. Its evaluation as a replacement for heparin\nis nearing completion and its adoption in clinical practice, where the volume used though\nsmall is very important, would ensure a supply of cheap, readily available anticoagulant.\nSECRET\n6"
}