ground zero for polycythemia vera in ththe free world, or in the world in n general, was bety and lester kester. when betty kester died, she had decided to donate her body to science for the invnvestigation. >> her body tissues eventually found their way here to dr. ronald hoffman's lab in mt. sinai hospital in new york city. he has spent nearly 40 years s studying pv. >> there were too many patients with polycythehemia vera in tha- in thatat area than one could account for. whether the environment or toxins in the enenvironmenent lead t to an ind risk of polycythemia vera is unknown. thatat's really an area of research anand also speculation. the problem is that there are multiple toxic compounds that are in the ground and also in the air in this area, and to prove a one-to-one relationship is going to be very, very tougugh. in this area, there were a lot of supeper-fund sites and coal mines. so, you know, they weren't here, they weren't there. they were here. and that was the concern. and that's the concern in my mind toto this day. it's a question mark. i don't have the answer to this. i'm n