KOPIN 273by Robert Bowman in the National Heart Institute, was one of the new
workhorses for quantitative assay of amines. Radioisotopes were just
being introduced as a means for studying amine metabolism. Kety
purchased the first liquid scintillation counter to come to the NIH. It was
the third such instrument that the Packard Instrument Company built.
In order to count the disintegrations of the radioisotope, the inves
tigator had to take a vial, put it into the “pig,” a lead container inside of
a freezer. First the freezer was opened, then the “pig” was opened, the
sample was placed in the appropriate space, the “pig” was closed, the
freezer was closed, and the researcher pressed a button to begin the
count. After watching the little lights on the tubes, the number of counts
indicated after the selected time (a minute or two) was recorded, and then
the next sample was put in. Naturally, since then, all of this has been
automated, of course. Today, with the development of newer, more sensi
tive techniques, the use of radioisotopes has diminished, but for several
decades radioisotopic methods predominated in the studies of amine
metabolism and disposition.
It was Kety’s idea to use radioisotopes for such studies. He contracted
with what was then a small company called the New England Nuclear
Company–subsequently taken over by DuPont–to make the first radio
active epinephrine and norepinephrine. This led to some of the most im
portant discoveries about catecholamine metabolism and inactivation
by uptake into sympathetic neurons, a discovery for which Julius Axelrod
was awarded the Nobel Prize. While working with Julius Axelrod, I
synthesized the first^14 C-S-Adenosyl-methionine using^14 C-methionine
supplied by the New England Nuclear Co. We needed that to make
(^14) C-O-methyl-metanephrine for a double-label experiment that I had
designed to determine the initial metabolism of tritiated epinephrine.
(^14) C- and (^3) H-S-Adenosyl-methionine also became important for the
discovery of new methylation reactions.
Another important factor was the enthusiastic financial support
given to the NIH by Congress. I do not believe there was any resistance
to building up this new research enterprise at the NIH. Furthermore,
there were several important new programs responsible for bring
ing to the NIH many physicians who subsequently became important
scientists. The Research Associate and Clinical Associate Programs