Dr Gertrude B Elion in conversation with Dr Peter Williams.

Interview with Dr Gertrude B Elion, who worked on anti-cancer agents and anti-viral agents at the Wellcome laboratories in the US. Dr Elion explains briefly how she came to work at Wellcome. She talks about her anti-cancer work at the small laboratory in Tacahoe and the subsequent larger, better-equipped one in North Carolina. After the arrival of Dr Schaeffer they began work on anti-viral agents. She suggests reasons why the Wellcome laboratories were so successful, emphasising the lack of pressure and the freedom they had. She laments that the bureaucracy of the FDA frustrates research now.