Profession

When asked to explain the need to study cellular evolution, W. Ford Doolittle, professor of biochemistry at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, offered the following scenario: "If martians were to visit us and ask where we came from and how we got here, and we were to say we didn't think it was worth pursuing, I'd be embarrassed." The origins and evolution of life are still a mystery, and opportunities abound for those with the temerity to broach this primordial problem. For example,

Photo: Courtesy of Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases SCIENTIST IN ISOLATION: African researchers, like this technician at the University of Khartoum, struggle to collaborate with other scientists. The release of the decoded genome for Plasmodium falciparum (the most deadly malaria parasite) in October represented a momentous step forward for the people of Africa. Around the same time, Abdoulaye Djimde, the head of the epidemiology and immunology department a

Photo: Getty Images Scientific swindlers, beware. Universities are policing fraud and misuse of public funds better than ever before, according to federal regulators, who point to a surge in misconduct findings during the past 18 months as evidence of successful sleuthing. Each year, 30 to 40 institutions report to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) that they have investigated claims of falsification, fabrication, or plagiarism (FF&P) in scientific research. In the past decade, about 3

Illustration: Erica P. Johnson Every five or six years, the United Kingdom's academic establishment sets out to perform an experiment on itself. Called the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), the vast endeavor involves 60 research panels, each investigating a specific discipline, from musicology to genomics. The panels, consisting of about 15 eminent researchers per panel, evaluate the research output of every participating university and institute. In the end, each institution receives a rank

Image: Anne MacNamara Researchers disheartened by the slowdown in private money for genomics projects should keep an eye on the Congressional budget, under debate now. US Government agencies are stepping up their spending on the search for genomic keys to disease. "It's a great time for genomics, as far as we're concerned," says Maria Giovanni, assistant director for microbial genomics and related technology development for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). NI

Photo: Courtesy of Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago  ART CREATING LIFE: Eduardo Kac's Genesis project enables viewers to create bacteria mutations. A stroll through an art museum can mirror a walk outdoors, as nature has inspired artists since people first used charcoal to draw on cave walls. Today, ambitious artists and accessible technologies have modernized the marriage of biology and art into bioart, coupling imagination and science to create animate, often interactive, works that put

Artwork: Anne MacNamara When the anthrax assaults of last fall transformed bioterrorism from theoretical possibility to reality, Congress wasted little time cranking out new laws that target laboratory operations. Within weeks of the attack on the World Trade Center, the USA Patriot Act whipped through Congress and became law, adding criminal sanctions to existing "biological weapons" statutes. A scant seven months later, the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act was signed, un

Image: Erica P. Johnson Research scientists devote decades to learning how to evaluate complex chemical and biological systems. Once they master that, they may be asked to join a biotech firm. And that can thrust them into a new science--Wall-Street style analysis--to verify the firm's financial promise. Even for seasoned venture investors biotech is one of the more difficult industries to evaluate. Add to that the uncertainty raised by a rash of corporate accounting scandals in the past yea

The cost of commercial scientific, technical, and medical journals has risen faster than inflation as publishers' profits soar, according to a September report by the British Office of Fair Trading.1 Yet, despite the report's conclusion that the profits have risen at the expense of education and research institutions, the British OFT, a consumer-protection agency that aims to ensure businesses operate fairly, concluded that free-market forces may eventually correct the journal market imbalance

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't look up once in a while you'll miss it." This worn standard of high school yearbooks holds as true for scientists as for the hero of the 1980s movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The glut of journals and papers can turn a small lapse of attention into a permanent state of catch-up for researchers who try to stay abreast of the latest findings in their fields. "Reading tends to fall by the wayside when people get consumed by their own work," says Kathy Lee, pos

Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have recently made a breakthrough linking the effects of genes to cognition and certain emotions, and several funding opportunities are available that may give rise to the next milestone in cognitive neuroscience. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE Grass Foundation Subject: Neuroscience fellowship for young investigators Deadline: December 15, 2002 Contact: Steven Zottoli (grassfdn@aol.com) (781) 843-0219 Columbia

Image: Anne MacNamara Life sciences contribute the lion's share of patent revenues at leading US universities, outpacing contributions from physical science, information technology, and other fields. Life scientists also supply most of the inventions patented by the 10 technologically strongest US institutions, according to a study provided to The Scientist by research and consulting company, CHI Research. In 2001, the top 10 US universities generated 689 life science patents, compared with 26

Researchers in targeted therapies aim for specificity and safety. Knowing the specific genetic defects connected to cancer may help scientists develop customized drugs to maximize therapeutic efficacy. In 2001, the development of targeted therapies got a boost with the Food and Drug Administration's approval of Gleevec, a drug developed by Novartis to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia, and the completion of Phase II clinical trials of Mylotarg, which applies antibody-targeted chemotherapy to

Artwork: Erica P. Johnson Like many scientists, Xi He has experienced acute competition between prestige journals Science, Nature, and Cell. While at a research conference at the Keystone resort in Colorado two years ago, he spoke with an editor of one of these top-tier journals. He told the editor about promising research on cell signaling in the course of embryo development.1 The editor urged him to submit his paper. "I've never had an editor request a submission before," He, who has publis

Photos: Erica P. Johnson  Britton Chance Padding around his laboratory in gray wool socks, Britton Chance glances at the clock and notices the hour is approaching noon. On Saturday, that's quitting time for the 89-year-old University of Pennsylvania biophysics professor emeritus. But first he has E-mails to answer and a lab to close for the day. Chance moves slowly but sure-footedly. Time has bowed his lean frame ever so slightly, and he remains a spare man with big brown glasses and wisp

Image: Courtesy of Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism NO SMALL PEANUTS: The state houses 500 bioscience companies that employ 13,000 workers. Anne Whalen, a molecular biologist, had no job when she and her husband relocated to Georgia three years ago from Jackson Hole, Wyo., so he could take a position at an Atlanta-area biotechnology company. She figured it would take her a while to land a life science job as well, but the market surprised her. "I didn't expect to find as

Graphic: Erica P. Johnson German plant biotechnology companies, frustrated by a European moratorium and lacking political and public support in their home country, struggle to sustain their re-search. Many still hope that genetically modified (GM) plant products will eventually find their way to the market. Some officials even believe that green gene technology, as plant genetics are sometimes called, could become a cornerstone in the recovery of the eastern German economy. Basic academic res

Image: Anne MacNamara Like prudent squirrels bracing for a harsh winter, biotech managers are scrambling to conserve money in an effort to keep their companies alive during the current financing downturn. Biotechs have not gone under in droves, despite the funding turn back. Most have survived using strategies such as licensing and partnership deals, innovative financing, and simple cost cutting, including layoffs. "We haven't seen the kind of consolidation you would expect. It is a little sur

Image: Erica P. Johnson Advances in gadgetry make a scientist's job easy. Finding the scientists who can wield the new instruments and assays poses a challenge. Companies now demand that scientists be veritable Swiss army knives of capability, posessing lab skills, scientific knowledge, and computer savvy. But employers and candidates sometimes end up building bridges from opposite shores, only to find they don't connect in the middle. "Hiring managers are often ludicrous about what they want

In the postgenomics era, many scientists have shifted focus from determining DNA sequence to unraveling gene function. With the possibility of tailoring drugs to individuals, pharmacogenomics holds the promise of turning the prescription of drugs into a more exact science. By analyzing patients' genetic profiles and their reactions to medication, the guesswork of trial-and-error prescriptions can be eliminated, providing for greater efficacy and safety. "Using molecular guidance and genetic m