c-span: and you are the victor denoble.ow did you get started on this whole thing that has led to the documentary? >> guest: it began in 1979 when i was contacted by phillip morris tobacco. they said they were having some problems and wondered if i could help them. they said that the problem was that nicotine causes about 138,000 people to die every year from cardiovascular activity and brain strokes. c-span: that figure is how much? >> guest: 138,000 each year from heart disease and brain strokes. they had a program in the 1970s where they wanted to remove nicotine from cigarettes and replace it with a job that was equally addictive, but joe that would not cause the heart problems and brain strokes. they had all these molecules that he invented, but they had no way to test them. that was my job. to come in and find a molecule that a rat's brain would say i like it, and the rats heart would not have any cardiovascular problem with it. c-span: 1979? what were you doing at the time? >> guest: as a postdoc and my specialty was