The wholehearted entrance of Abelson, Cowie and Roberts into biological research after the war was not as remarkable or surprising as it has sometimes been represented. It is true that they were experimental physicists very much at home with soldering iron and lathe rather than microscope and petri dish, but as previous chapters have indicated there had been a growing interest in approaching biological problems through the use of radioisotopes, and not a few collaborative experiments had been conducted. Indeed, in 1939 half of the time used by the new pressure-tank machine was devoted to visiting biologists. Cowie's original association as a Fellow of the National Cancer Institute was to help them with their experiments. More to the point, the cyclotron had been intended from the start to be a factory for isotopes. The building above it was designed for the conduct of relevant experiments that needed close access to the sources, necessary because it was thought many were expected to have lifetimes too short for distant transport.

To keep these physicists from straying too far from the paths of biological righteousness, many biologists and physicians visited to criticize, suggest and learn. Particularly important were Hugh H. Darby and Louis B. Flexner, Carnegie Research Associates, and William R. Duryee of the National Cancer Institute.

In addition to radiochemistry, another experimental technique, liquid chromatography, came into use at about the same time and proved just as valuable to the new group.