Harvard and Monsanto embarked on a radical departure from conventional academic research by entering into a joint venture catalyzed by Bert and Monsanto Vice-President, Monte Throdahl. This was an academic-industrial enterprise on a large scale, perhaps the first of its kind in terms of funding and duration. The research was directed toward isolating chemicals that led to new blood vessels in tumors. Bert’s lab characterized one of these chemicals, angiogenin, which proved to be a ribonuclease analog.