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Late last year, while watching a news report that examined the challenges of annotating the human genome sequence, Bill Long had an epiphany. A programmer at Seattle-based Cray Inc., Long realized that many bioinformatics complexities are basically problems of pattern matching--a Cray specialty. So, Long phoned the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC) and suggested a collaboration. He was well received. Says ABCC director Stan Burt, facility researchers "

More than 80 percent of the planet's living organisms exist only in aquatic ecosystems. Some may harbor secrets to human origins, and clues, treatments--perhaps even cures--for human disease. Some are critical bioindicators that portend the health of the biosphere. Yet, overall, scientists know little about the biochemical processes of these life forms. The vast, rich knowledge within the oceans and freshwater systems on Earth remains virtually untapped, because in the world of biological resear

Unlike the chicken-and-egg dilemma, scientists know that genes come before the environment. In genetically based diseases, however, the question is not when but how. How do environmental conditions and lifestyle choices interact with a person's molecular structure? "We're all groping in the dark to find out how to get a handle on this complexity," says Marianne Berwick, an epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Although scientists can now assess exposure levels to

While touting its support for large increases in research funds for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bush administration engaged in a backhanded slap to scientists in all divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In mid-March, Ed Sontag, deputy chief of staff for operations in HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson's office, issued a memo to all HHS divisional staff heads requiring that they "must clear all domestic travel" with his office. International travel for certai

Four pharmaceuticals have joined the National Institutes of Health to find early warning signs and potential drug targets for osteoarthritis. The Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) will provide approximately $8 million a year over the next five-to-seven years to support clinical data collection from 5,000 people at high-risk for osteoarthritis. GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer have each committed $800,000, and the majority of federal funding comes from the coffers of the

Scientists who gathered in Providence, R.I. in late July for the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists paused one evening to honor a pioneer in plant biotechnology. The society gave Swiss researcher Ingo Potrykus its Leadership in Science Public Service Award for his molecular tour de force in creating beta carotene-enriched 'golden' rice. Along with Peter Beyer of the University of Freiburg in Germany, and Xudong Ye, now at Agricetus Monsanto in Madison, Wis, Potrykus moved

The American Society of Plant Physiologists recently changed its name to the American Society of Plant Biologists and celebrated the event during its summer meeting in Providence, R.I. More than 1,400 scientists, including members of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists, heard and presented results on everything from genomics to pathogenesis to pattern formation, and some of the work had strong biotechnological implications. Here's a sample of what transpired: Salt of the Earth A little

Culturing cells in the reduced gravity conditions of the International Space Station could help refine cancer treatment regimes.

The long awaited Horn report on the BSE epidemic throws up as many questions as it answers.

The discovery that antibodies seem to be effective against prions could open the door to immunisation against spongiform encephalopathies.

Observation of the brain's biochemical response to chronic pain is enabling the natural painkilling mechanisms of the body to be understood in greater detail.

The announcement that murine embryos have been created without fertilisation by sperm nuclei has opened an important ethical and scientific debate.